http://www.indiegamescon.com/

[maksum]

http://www.indiegamescon.com/

Anyone planning on going to this? Preregistration ends on the 17th, which is coming up and I've been thinking about it.

For those who have gone, was it beneficial? I am working on 2-d games. I wonder if it's geared more towards those doing 3-D.

Anyway, I know nothing about this, but if someone convinced me that it was worth-while, I think I would consider going. Any info on this would be appreciated.

Thanks much!

Mike

[dyoll]

stay away, it's a con!

[Yuriy O]

http://www.indiegamescon.com/

Anyone planning on going to this? Preregistration ends on the 17th, which is coming up and I've been thinking about it.

Mike

I would go if they would be closer to me. Always good to meet people from the industry, from what I'm reading "Keynote Speech -- Garr Godfrey, CEO of Gamehouse" is only one sort of popular person out there. I would think there should be be more people presenting from different companies.

[dannyngan]

IGC is a great event. There aren't many events where you can spend the whole weekend meeting and talking with fellow indie game developers like yourself. Although a large number of the sessions are geared towards 3D, all of the attendees are focused on making games, no matter what the medium.

I think you could gain a lot from meeting people at the conference. You could make some great contacts with programmers, artists, maybe even publishers. Also, if you have a game to show (doesn't matter how "finished" it is), it's a great place to get feedback on it.

Plus, Eugene is only a couple of hours from Portland. Just go to IGC and have fun. Food and beer is included in the registration. :)

[maksum]

stay away, it's a con!

Can you elaborate please?


So dannyngan, when you mention food, is that like every meal? There really isn't a whole lot of info on their site... no schedule, no FAQ. It's just a few weeks off, and you'd think they would have that posted.

I probably wouldn't be considering it if I weren't so close, but yeah, it's just a couple hours, so it does have my interest.

[Sunshine]

Can you elaborate please?

I can elaborate for you:

You see there's always one guy in the crowd that doesn't get the joke.... :D

[maksum]

I can elaborate for you:

You see there's always one guy in the crowd that doesn't get the joke.... :D

Ok ok, fine... That's why we have Smilies though... would have made all the difference! :p

[dannyngan]

Assuming that GarageGames is handling meals the same as last year, then yes, you get every meal provided at IGC. Dinner/snacks on Friday; breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Saturday; and breakfast and lunch on Sunday. Don't quote me on that, but that's how it's been for the past couple of years.

The exact schedule is in-progress. I can only speak for the art sessions (since I'm one of the speakers), and I can say right now that we have a close-to-final list of topics for the weekend. Yes, a lot of the planning is getting close to last-minute, but things are looking really good.

You can probably find more information in the forums on the Garage Games website. Lots of attendees are discussing what they plan on bringing to IGC and some of the speakers may have some rough hints on what they will be presenting.

[Mark Currie]

When I registered, it mentioned food was included. The form even asks if you are vegetarian or not. See you there!

[JoeMaru]

Food is included, and it is quite good (not like the crap at most Cons), as is the beer (microbrew).

I have had more fun at the last two IGCs than I have had at the past several GDCs. Lots of cool people, small an informal feeling, no overwhelming markteting bombarding you..

The coolest part is just meeting other indie games devs, talking shop, checking out their games, and having a good time with like minded people.

I think that Tom will be hosting a Game in a Day one of the days as well, which should be an absolute riot.

[kerchen]

I went last year and had a great time. The only thing stopping me from going this year is the cost--registration + plane tix + hotel room adds up!--but I haven't given up hoping for a last-minute infusion of cash that will allow me to go. The food is good but the beer is better. Oh, and you get to meet a lot of great people who share at least one common interest. :)

[Mark Fassett]

You just need to move closer, Paul :) I met lots of people last year, and hope to meet more this year. The biggest reason I'm going is just to socialize. The sessions don't sound as interesting to me this year, but that doesn't really matter. Just being able to chat without typing on the keyboard is worth the money :)

[maksum]

So I'm hearing a lot about how fun it is, but how useful is it? Not that fun doesn't have it's value, but will I take away information from the event that will eventually make me enough money for the money and time I spent to get there?

I know you can't answer that for "me", but have you all felt that you are at least that much more successful in your business because you attended?

Thanks.

Mike

[Mark Fassett]

Well - meeting and knowing people is useful. Some of the business I'm doing wouldn't have happened if I had not met some of the people I met there. Was it worth the money I spent? Yes, I think so. I've made more money because of the relationships I created there than I would have if I hadn't gone.

[Jim Buck]

I'm strongly considering going, but the fact there isn't a final schedule on the site is one thing holding me back.

dannyngan, when do they plan to post the final schedule - before the 17th?

I looked online for good flights, hotels, car rentals and think I can do it for around $550 (from San Diego) including the cost of the conference ticket and bringing my wife along (but not to the conference itself :) ).

[JoeMaru]

I think it is well worth the money. I was presenting a few sessions, so I did not get to attend many myself. Feedback I got from artists in the artist track on the art sessions (which I organized last year) was very good in terms of the value they think they got from the tracks.

Personally, I got to talk for a few minutes with Ron Powers, John Welch (shockwave.com now at PlayFirst) and Dave Nixon (from Real Arcade now at Oberon).. and the information I got from these conversations was worth (to me) ten times the cost of the admission.

If you have a game that is ready to show.. the feedback you can get at the Con is amazing. There is a place to load up your game and have others play it.

Having a venue where you can demo yoru game and get feedback from 200+ other indie game developers is something I don't think you could get anywhere else.

[kerchen]

So I'm hearing a lot about how fun it is, but how useful is it? Not that fun doesn't have it's value, but will I take away information from the event that will eventually make me enough money for the money and time I spent to get there?

Well, one of the people I met last year, Thomas Buscaglia, is an attorney who specializes in "game development law" (that's my term--I'm sure there's a better term to describe what he does) and the information I got from him would have cost me hundreds of dollars in a normal attorney consultation. Tom is very interested in helping out indie developers and he's an avid gamer to boot. And, as JoMaru mentioned, you can get some really valuable feedback and contacts from some of the major online publishers. Finally, some of the sessions are pretty good. So, I'd say it's worth attending at least once.

[Greg Squire]

I am debating about going as well, but I'm trying to decide whether to go or wait until next year. I'm just barely starting on my first game, so I'm not "established" and I don't have anything useful to show yet. Would it be worth it in a situation like that? Or would it be best to spend that time and money getting my "feet on the ground" more, and try for next year? Thoughts?

[JoeMaru]

Greg,

Personal opinion here.. I see way too many developers that start out making some very basic mistakes in terms of what they choose to undertake as a project, what they should focus on, and what is important from a marketing/sales standpoint. Talking to someone who has done it before can save months of wasted effort.

A few little things that I picked up in casual conversations in the past 2 cons where some of those 'slap my head that it is so obvious' bits of information that I just did not think of.

My opinion is that even those with nothing to show will find it very useful.

[dannyngan]

I'm strongly considering going, but the fact there isn't a final schedule on the site is one thing holding me back.

dannyngan, when do they plan to post the final schedule - before the 17th?

I looked online for good flights, hotels, car rentals and think I can do it for around $550 (from San Diego) including the cost of the conference ticket and bringing my wife along (but not to the conference itself :) ).

You should contact Garage Games for more details on how final the sessions are. I'm just working on my part of the art tracks, so I can't speak for anyone else.

[maksum]

You should contact Garage Games for more details on how final the sessions are. I'm just working on my part of the art tracks, so I can't speak for anyone else.

I did just that yesterday. If I hear back from then I'll post here.

Mike

[DrakanFyr]

I've told this story a few times in different place but I think it is worth repeating =)

In an insane twist of fate last year I made it to IGC. I really didn't know what to expect and didn't have any hopes beyond getting to meet some of the people I knew from the Garage Games (the guys hosting IGC) community. I had with me a very quick and dirty prototype of a game that me and a guy from Engalnd had worked on for less than 3 weeks. I wasn't sure if it was even worth showing but I through it on a CD 'just in case".

On Saturday morning I decided to skip the first set of sessions and check out the other games that people had brought along to show (there is a lan center where you are free to install your games for all to play). There were some really cool and fun games and my game (BoomBall) looked horrible in comparison but I decided that there really weren't any "silly" games so went ahead and installed it. We had a few pick up games during the day and had some fun but I never really gave much thought to it till the GG marketing guy (Jay) snagged me and led me over to the owner of GG (Jeff Tunnell) who told me that his kids thought that BoomBall was the most fun game there and that GG would love to see it finished and was ready to publish it for me! I was blown away!

All that night and through out Sunday I had people seeking me out to tell me how much they liked BoomBall and to give me there business cards. I had offers pouring in to help me make my game. It was a bit overwhelming but incredibly cool =)

After I got home from IGC, I went through the stack of contacts I had and started to follow them up. In the end I partnered with BraveTree Productions (the makers of ThinkTanks). Over the last year I have slowly been working with them on BoomBall and a few other things, meanwhile getting to know the guys there quite well. Well enough in fact that I just moved across the country to Eugene, OR two weeks ago to begin working full-time with them =)

I am living the dream of doing indie game development full-time and it would not have been possible if it hadn't been for the contacts and friends I made at IGC!

I'm not saying that it will be the same for just anyone who attends the conference. I have worked long and hard for the last several years *and* got extremely lucky to reach the point I am at, but attending IGC last year did play a large part in this last step.

As far as the conference goes:
* All meals are provided
* There are going to be a lot of awesome, knowledgable, experienced, developers there. These are people who have years of experience in "pro" game development and indie game development and they are all eager to share.
* There will also be a lot of new developers and people just checking out indie game development. It is an excellent place to make contacts and to work at team building.
* It is a great place to show off your games. One of the best things about IGC is that the developers attending have the ability to look past the rough edges, placeholder art, incomplete features, and bugs to see the potential of the game. It is a lot harder to have the general public give your game the same leeway.
* There are a lot of great sessions packed with a ton of valuable information. The biggest complaint I heard last year was not being able to attend two or three sessions at a time ;)
* It is a nicely sized conference. E3 and GDC are huge and you tend to feel lost or overwhelmed in the crush. IGC is much smaller and it is possible to actually meet most of the attendees in the course of a weekend.
* It is FUN!!!

So those are my reasons that you should attend IGC if you have *any* way to. Last year I tapped all of my releatives for frequent flier miles to cover the plane ticket, borrowed the cash for the price of the conference from friends, and slept in the very scary GG "Intern House". This year I know of at least one person who just managed to get enough paypal donations to make it all the way from England to IGC. I also know from recent experience it is possible to drive to Eugene in 4 days from anywhere in the US. If you are determined, you can get there =)

[maksum]

Ok, they wrote back to me.... Here's what they know of the schedule so far:


Mike:

Check out the following links...

http://www.indiegamescon.com/speakers
http://www.indiegamescon.com/schedule

Below is a tentative schedule which is subject to change. Hope this helps you to make your decision. Let me know if you need any additional information.

Sincerely,
Shannon Overman
GarageGames Event Coordinator


SCHEDULE OF EVENTS


FRIDAY

9:00am-5:00pm Game-in-a-Day Event

12:00-5:00pm Registration at the Wild Duck Mallard Hall

12:00-5:00pm ShowOFF Center Set-up

5:30-6:30pm Kickoff/GarageGames LAUNCH Session

7:00pm-midnight IndieJam Party sponsored by Wild Duck Brewery

(Light dinner, live music, games and adult beverages at Mallard Hall.)



SATURDAY

8:00-10:00am Registration at the Wild Duck Mallard Hall

10:00-11:15am Keynote: “The Story Behind GameHouse” by Garr Godfrey

11:30am-12:30pm Full Session: Michael Robertson from LinSpire

12:30-1:30pm Lunch (provided)

1:30-2:30pm Breakout 1

Business Track: “Indie Game Entrepreneurship” by Jeannie Novak

Torque Track: “AI in Torque” by Phil Carlisle, Nicolas Quijano, Josh Williams

Tools & Techniques: “Component System Dev & TGE” by Ben Garney and Clark Fagot

Hands On: “Ruthlessly Commited to Fun” by Paul Dana, Kirk Alberts and Jason Sharp

Artist Track: “Shaders” by Alex Swanson, Timothy Aste and Joe Maruschak



2:30-3:30pm Breakout 2

Business Track: “Starting up a Game Studio” by Thomas Buscaglia

Torque Track: “Stump the Experts” by GG Staff (Mark Frohnmayer, Pat Wilson, Ben Garney, Tim Gift, Brian Ramage, Rick Overman)

Tools & Techniques: “Linux Gaming” by Ryan Gordon

Hands On: “Simulation Training and Higher Education” by Ray Depew and Roger Parmenter

Artist Track: “Production Pipeline” by Alexander Fernandez



3:30-4:30pm Gaming Break

4:30-5:30pm Breakout 3

Business Track: “Arcade & Coin-op Development” by Pierre Maloka and James Hills

Torque Track: “Torque Script” by Ed Maurina

Hands On: “Stump the Maruschak” by Joe Maruschak

Artist Track: “Maya 2 Torque” by Danny Ngan



6:00-7:00pm Dinner (provided)

7:00pm-1:00am ShowOFF Session and LAN Party sponsored by nVIDIA



SUNDAY

9:00-10:00am Gaming Time

10:00-11:00am Panel Discussion: “State of the Industry”

11:00-12:00pm Breakout 4

Business Track: “Marketing Your Game” by Kelly Heckman

Torque Track: “Torque 2D Gamemaker” by Pat Wilson and Josh Williams

Tools & Techniques: “Development and Design for Handhelds” by William Klein

Hands On: “Remote Team Management” by 21-6

Artist Track: “Show Tools & Unwrapping” by Logan Foster and Dave Wyand



12:00-12:30pm Gaming Break

12:30-1:30pm Lunch (provided) & IGC Players Choice Awards

1:30-2:30pm Full Session: “Game Design” by Jeff Tunnell

2:30-3:30pm Breakout 5

Business Track: “Effective Developer Agreements” by Thomas Buscaglia

Torque Track: “TSE” by Brian Ramage and Ben Garney

Tools & Techniques: “Surviving as an Indie” by Davis Ray Sickmon & David Michael

Hands On: “Indie PR” by Scott Miller

Artist Track: “Boning, Rigging & Mo Cap” by Danny Ngan



4:00pm IGC 2004 Post Mortem

5:00-6:00pm Breakdown/Packup

[dannyngan]

FYI, the session list has been updated with more details.

http://www.indiegamescon.com/speakers

[maksum]

Ok, looks like I'm going. Should be a good experience. There's a chance I won't be able to stay for the last day, so I'll have to make some friends there and have them take notes for me :)

Thanks to everyone who has provided input and information.

Mike

[Dan MacDonald]

I wouldn't miss IGC for anything really. The people i've met there, the expirences ive had, the sessions are really only a minor benifet. Taking a game there and watching tons of people play it on the computers provided, nothing will tell you more about your game then watching tons of new people play it.

On top of that you get to sit down and chat with producers from the various game channels who see quite a few games comming and going and know a fair amount about what sells in the casual space, they are full of great insights and ideas. Having expirenced game makers like Jeff Tunnell look at your game and tell you what he thinks (unless your something special it will probably be hard to swallow ;) ) about your game is really worth the price of admission.

As indie developers we tend to walk around in our own world when compared with most people we interact with on a daily basis. We read these forums and mingle with other people who think and feel the same way we do about making games. However, nothing beats jamming about 200 like minded indie game developers in a room and just talking with everyone about their stuff. You'll meet tons of people and make great contacts. It's very re-assuring to go out there and meet people who are doing what you do, I leave IGC every year hugely motivated about working on my games.

...and the food is great, all your meals are taken care of.

[David York]

FYI there is a post in the Indie Life subforum about this, with a good list of IndieGamer attendees:

http://forums.indiegamer.com/showthread.php?t=349

I will be there, and I look forward to meeting many of you face-to-face!

[Greg Squire]

Looks like I'll be going as well. I'm all registered now, but I'm still finalizing travel plans. (The airline industry is still crazy as ever. Trying to find flights that are cheap and work with your schedule is a difficult task indeed.)

Hope to meet a lot of you in person there. This should be a rewarding experience. See you in about 3 1/2 weeks!

[James C. Smith]

I will be there this year. I will be flying into Portland and arriving at 9:26 am Friday morning. From there I am renting a car and driving to the con. If anyone wants a ride from Portland airport at around 9:30 on Friday morning let me know. I will be returning Sunday night to catch an 8:06 pm depart flight. I would hate to make the two hour drive all by my self if I could share it with another developer.

I haven't booked my hotel in Eugene yet. Where is everyone staying? I want to be where the action is.

[Dan MacDonald]

A good number of us are staying at the Ramada Inn, if you stay there they also have an airport shuttle so you wouldn't need to rent a car, DavidRM, Retro64, myself and a few others have already booked rooms there...

[Mark Fassett]

I'm staying with my in-laws :( No action for me :)

[Gmicek]

Staying at the Ramada with all the cool people. I'll have a car so if someone needs a ride to and from the convension let me know.

[Mike Boeh]

I actually, blitwise and myself are booked at the hilton, but we are going to try to switch to be cool like dan!

[James C. Smith]

I doubt the airport shuttle would go all the way to the Portland airport.

I ended up reserving a room at the "Best Value Inn" because it is close and cheap and has free DSL and several people on the garagegames forum said they were staying there. But now I am considering moving over to Ramada

[Dan MacDonald]

The ramada is also great about shuttling you to and from the conference. It's about a 5 min drive away (I don't know of any hotels in walking distance of the conference). You just give them a call and they'll send the minivan over to pick you up (or drop you off as the case may be)

IGC has wireless LAN connectivity and regular old RJ-45 (Is that what it's called?). I've had such an engrossing time talking with people the last two conferences that I havn't used the hotel for more then crashing for a few hrs sleep and then heading back to the con.

[Mark Currie]

The first year, we stayed at the Ramada, and last time we stayed at the Hilton. The Hilton is definitely nicer, but they raised their rates. So the people I’m driving with and I will probably stay at the Ramada. Honestly, I’m not sure if the Hotel matters. It seems like all the hanging out happens at the conference anyway.

[Gmicek]

Exactly. Last year I stayed at some place that was almost $150 a night, it was really nice. But I was only in the room a few hours a night to sleep, and that was it.