Nordic Game Jam 2014 preparations begin
02 months ago
As you all probably know the biggest event we organize here at IGDA Denmark is the Nordic Game Jam without a doubt.
Last year we held the event for the first time at Aalborg University Copenhagen and it was a fantastic success, marking our biggest game jam yet.
Now we’re ready to announce the dates for the upcoming NGJ14: February 14-16!
If you want to stay updated with all the news about upcoming talks, volunteers call, ticket sales and join the hype don’t forget to visit the official Nordic Game Jam website as well as the Facebook and Twitter pages!
In need of more game jams before Exile? Try Mini Jam #5!
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Our friends at Unge Spiludviklere (Young Game Developers) have been busy lately preparing for this semester and now they’re bringing to you the chance to participate in one of their Mini Jams with Mini Jam #5 this coming weekend of October 4-6.
Unlike previous events, this time you no longer need to be a member of Unge Spiludviklere to participate, making it much easier for you to simply sign up and attend. The event will take place at Aalborg University Copenhagen, the same building where the Unity Nights lectures are taking place and where we held Nordic Game Jam last January.
While there will be no food provided (except perhaps some cake?) you will have easy access to the nearby shops and pizzerias.
If you haven’t attended any of the previous Mini Jams, here’s the brief: no rules, no restrictions. You can either start working on a new game or continue developing your previous projects. The idea here is to get together with other aspiring game developers and make something great during the weekend.
Registration is simple. You can sign up here and you can also check the Facebook event here.
After that just show up on Friday at 17:00 at:
Aalborg University
C. A. Meyer Vænge 15
2450 Copenhagen
For any questions, write in the Facebook event or send an email to jam@ungespiludviklere.dk.
It’s time to learn Unity from beginner to pro
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Here at IGDA Denmark we are big fans of Unity, the popular game engine that was born in Copenhagen and quickly caught on with indie game developers, especially in the mobile market. Since it first came out in 2005 the engine has been getting all sort of improvements in usability, performance, features and soon a great new 2D workflow system that makes modern game development extremely accessible to everyone. It’s no wonder it’s become such a widely used engine!
So after some careful planning we want to announce the Unity Nights, a series of free lectures where you can go from zero to hero with Unity.
These lectures will take you from the very first basics of working with Unity to start creating your own games and polishing them up. Later lectures will take on more advanced topics such as working with the Mecanim animation system, scripting, physics and programming custom shaders. These will certainly help you also when you join one of the many game jams happening in Denmark!
But for the moment being, let’s focus on the first three lectures:
- Thursday, September 26th – Unity for absolute dummies
- Wednesday, October 2nd – Building your first game in Unity
- Thursday, October 10th – Building a BETTER game with Unity
The first lecture will get you accustomed with Unity, it’s interface, controls and basic elements, as well as learning a proper workflow. No coding skills required! (Though they will, of course, help). The following two lectures are step-by-step examples where you will be making a fully working game in a tutorial style. If you prefer to, you can save the event on Facebook as well!
All the lectures will begin at 19:00 in order to keep a consistent schedule. Also these lectures will end with a questions session where you can come with your problems with Unity and we will try to help you as much as possible. The location is at Aalborg University Copenhagen, located in Sydhavn (not far from the Sydhavn S-train station, a couple of stops away from the central train station). We will be placing signs at the entrance so you can find the room where these lectures will be taking place.
And that’s not all! Don’t forget that later on we will announce more lectures to continue with the program into more advanced topics, so keep updated with our announcements here or on our Twitter and Facebook pages to be the first one to hear about upcoming Unity Nights!
Watch Richard Garfield’s talk at ITU
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Did you miss Richard Garfield‘s talk at the IT University of Copenhagen last Friday, September 13th?
Then no worries, we’ve got you covered. We managed to record the entire presentation, plus the questions from the audience afterwards into one single video. We had a few technical issues at the beginning of the talk, but afterwards everything went quite smooth.
The talk itself was quite the success! We had over 350 people attending the event plus all those watching the talk online through our livestream. The event even received media coverage on Danish media outlets such as DR’s Troldspejlet and Berlingske.
After his talk about luck in games, Garfield spent over 20 minutes signing autographs on cards and game boxes, making sure that all the attendees were pleased.
And if you weren’t there, we hope you will also enjoy the talk through our livestream recording:
Luck vs. Skill in Games talk by Magic: The Gathering creator
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EDIT: Due to the high amount of participants who have shown interest on Facebook, we have decided to move the talk to the biggest auditorium at ITU: Auditorium 1.
Richard Garfield, Ph.D. in Combinatorial Mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania, best known for being the designer of the wildly popular collectible card game Magic: The Gathering, will be giving a talk at the IT University of Copenhagen on Luck in Games.
Now, if you’ve been following our news here, you already know that Garfield is one of the speakers lined up for this month’s board-games focused SpilBar 16 event alongside Reiner Knizia.
But this is not going to be the only chance you got to see him talk!
Whereas his talk during SpilBar will focus on gameplay balancing, the one IGDA Denmark will be hosting at the IT University of Copenhagen will focus on Luck in Games and will, ironically, be taking place in September, Friday 13th.
The talk is open for everyone (as long as there is space available), so even if you plan on attending the SpilBar event (which you totally should!) you are more than welcome to join this really interesting talk.
And, with the talk being on a Friday afternoon, you will be able to stop by ITU’s Scrollbar after the talk for a drink or two.
Date and time: September, Friday 13th at 14:00
Location: IT University of Copenhagen (Rued Langgaards Vej, 7) – Auditorium 1
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/647290978627969
We’re looking forward to seeing you around!
Come with IGDA Denmark to the European Women in Games Conference 2013
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EDIT: Congratulations to Astrid M.Z. Madsen and Kristyna Paskova for winning the two tickets to the conference!
On September 25th 2013 London will become the host of the European Women in Games Conference 2013, at the Millenium Gloucester Hotelk Kensington. And with IGDA being an official sponsor, we want to extend to you the opportunity to attend the event.
This year’s theme for the conference is “Creating Your Future” and it is an inclusive event focused on progressing your career whether you are a man or a woman working in games, technology or media. You can see the full programme here.
Attending the conference will give you top insight and inspiration from leading industry figures by Media Molecule studio director Siobhan Reddy and Caroline Norbury, CEO of Creative England and MBE awardee (Member of the Order of the British Empire). You will also have the chance to meet other leading and dynamic women within the industry. The conference will feature up to 40 industry speakers as well as roundtables. New for this year will be a Student Showcase and HR manager’s forum. The event will also host the European Women in Games Hall of Fame awards, sponsored by Electronic Arts.
Early bird tickets are available now at £120 (1036 kr. approximately) until September 11th. The full day conference includes drinks on arrival and during breaks in the morning and afternoon, and 3 choice menu lunch with salads, main courses and a selection of desserts.
The conference is also taking place the day right before the Eurogamer Expo, making it a great opportunity to extend your visit to London.
As a sponsor of the event, IGDA is also giving you the chance to win a ticket to attend the event. We will be giving away two of these, so if you’re interested, make sure you apply for it through this form (the draw is now closed). We will announce the two winners of the tickets on September 10th, so don’t miss this opportunity! The winners will be chosen randomly from the list of all those who applied.
Get creative and cozy at Exile Game Jam Fall 2013
03 months ago
It’s getting close to that time of the year once again. The Coziest Game Jam Ever ™ is back for another round of games, chilling, making more games, sauna, fireplaces, playing other people’s games, chilling with all the new friends you’ve made and even graveyard hunting.
It’s Exile Game Jam Fall 2013, taking place from October 30th to November 3rd 2013!
Once again the beautiful Vallekilde Højskole becomes the host for Exile, so you know what that means: great meals included, beds for everyone, a nice cozy fireplace, a sauna and more.
For those who don’t know yet, Exile Game Jam is a relaxed, social gathering where creative people get together for workshops, games and, of course creating new and fun game ideas. Unlike Nordic Game Jam, Exile is much more informal, allowing participants to work together in a chill atmosphere, with outdoor activities also planned in the schedule. The extended period of time during which Exile takes place allows to work on more than one game and make space for a final party at the end of the event. More info and photos about Exile Game Jam can be found here.
Prices are 850 kr. per person, with a special price of 600 kr. for students. But as usual this includes accommodation in the building in shared rooms of two people and access to showers. Also included are all meals (Vallekilde is famous for its excellent food), internet access and even a sauna, a cinema, exercise facilities, a fireplace, a music/audio room and painting and sculpting facilities among others.
Besides the games, the program includes activities such as talks, music jams, outdoor games and a final party on Saturday night (sometimes with Spanish sangría too!)
The last Exile Game Jam Spring 2013 was a total success, with participants leaving looking forward to this next Exile, lots of great games, and even mentions on popular gaming websites such as Gamespot, Kotaku and Rock, Paper, Shotgun for the surprising Oculus Rift-based Disunion. Let’s make this next one even better!
You can check out the full program (which is susceptible to changes) and sign up for Exile Game Jam at Exile.dk.
Magic, Lord of the Rings and Board Games at Spilbar 16
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With Summer 2013 coming to a close it’s time to start thinking again about the upcoming events for the year, and to kick it all off, what’s better than another round of talks, mingling and games showcase at Spilbar 16?
The theme for the next edition of Spilbar is board games, and the event is going to bring together two of the biggest figures in the industry with Richard Garfield and Reiner Knizia as they give us their perspectives on the past, present and future of game design.
Richard Garfield designed his first game at the age of 13 but he is best known for making the first collectible card game ever, Magic: The Gathering in 1993. He has also designed Netrunner, RoboRally, Vampire: The Eternal Struggle and most recently King of Tokyo. Garfield first became passionate about games when he played Dungeons & Dragons. Currently he is working on the digital trading card game SolForge, which aced $430.000 on Kickstarter back in September 2012. He has a Ph.D. in combinatorial mathematics and his great-uncle invented the paper clip.
Reiner Knizia developed his first game at the age of 8 and has been a full-time game designer since 1997. Knizia have designed over 500 published games, which have won him the Deutcher Spiele Preis four times, one Spiel des Jahres award and numerous other national and international awards. Knizia’s best selling games are Lord of the Rings and Pickomino with over one million copies sold and Keltis with over 600.000 sold copies worldwide. Knizia also designed games such as Lost Cities, Ingenious, Qin and Tigris & Eufrat, which all are released on iOS devices as well. He has a Ph.D. in mathematics and several often European gaming conventions host ‘Kniziathons’ – tournaments solely dedicated to celebrating Knizia-designed games.
SpilBar 16 will conclude with the annual award ceremony for the Danish board game award Guldbrikken (‘The Golden Pawn’), where celebrates the best board games of 2013. Afterwards there will be time to mingle over some drinks or play some of the games in the showcase. Please note that you can apply to showcase your game here!
The event will take place once again at AFUK, the Akademiet for Utæmmet Kreativitet located in Enghavevej 80-82B, on Thursday, September 12th from 16:30 to 21:00. As usual, everyone is welcome to join, so we’re hoping to see you there!
You can also check the event on Facebook to stay updated with the latest changes!
About SpilBar:
SpilBar is a bimonthly event, where everyone in or close to the computer games industry can meet and mingle. The meetings always start with a talk and end with a drink.
SpilBar is a bimonthly event, where everyone in or close to the computer games industry can meet and mingle. The meetings always start with a talk and end with a drink.
SpilBar is initiated by Kristine Ploug from DADIU, and Thomas Vigild from The Danish Game Council (Dansk Spilråd). SpilBar is organized in collaboration with IGDA Denmark, Unge Spiludviklere, Spilordningen and Computerspilzonen.
Want to help bring Global Game Jam to new countries?
04 months ago
Did you know that Nordic Game Jam was the basis upon which the Global Game Jam was established? Since the first GGJ in 2008, over 60 different countries have been hosting the event and that number keeps increasing as more aspiring game developers and entire communities join to participate.
Last year our local event moved things a week ahead of the rest of the world. One of the reasons for this was that it would allow us to travel abroad to other global game jam sites. We had some of the organizers travelling to venues in the UK and Finland. But one group of organizers also traveled to Macedonia to establish their first Global Game Jam event and made it a success!
After last year’s great experience we want to repeat again and bring the game jam culture to other countries where willing developers are looking forward to put their skills to the test of making a game in 48 hours and join the fun.
Which is why we are looking to form a group of volunteers to help bring GGJ to new grounds.
If you’ve been a volunteer at Nordic Game Jam before you know the drill: we set up different teams to take care of the organization tasks that have to do with the venue, group forming, theme, etc. Of course with this being a new place we’re bringing GGJ to, this is going to be at a much smaller scale than the 500-participants behemoth that NGJ is.
Nevertheless, we need your help! Last year’s organizers in Skopje, Macedonia, had a blast and got to visit a beautiful country at the same time they made history with their first game jam. So what do you say? Do you want to join? Then head over to this short survey stating your name and email. We’re looking forward to hear from you!
Some of the participants in the first ever Global Game Jam Skopje 2013
Come to Denmark’s first official Molyjam site on July 5th
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Everyone in the games industry has heard of Peter Molyneux. But his doppelganger Molydeux has been slowly gathering a lot of attention as well through his Twitter account @petermolydeux, a parody of the game designer who posts the craziest game ideas.
This later on became the basis for a game jam: What would Molydeux, better known as “Molyjam”. And this year the game jam returns on July 5-7, only this time you can join other game developers in Denmark’s first official Molyjam site and compete with other participants worldwide to create truly lifechanging game concepts.
If you are itching for more game jams you should definitely join Molyjam at Platform 4 in Aalborg. The venue will be offering several tools for participants to use such as 3D printers, Playstation Move controllers and more.
All you need to bring is your own computer and a fresh mind to make Molydeux’s game ideas come true. The organizers of Molyjam in Aalborg will take care of the rest so you can get Internet access, a place to sleep and more.
Want to join? Then check out the Facebook event here and sign up for free!
