Free Chicago Indie Game Dev Meeting -- Sunday, September 26th

[Curiosoft]

Hey folks,

We're having another indie meetup. This time it'll be in Schaumburg on Sunday night at 8 PM (Sunday, September 26th).

We'll have it at the Starbucks located near the "Streets of Woodfield"
http://www.starbucks.com/retail/locator/MapResults.aspx?a=1&StoreKey=4757&IC_O=42.0071694522904%3a-88.0003348513627%3a32%3a60007%2c+Illinois%2c+Unite d+States&GAD1_O=&GAD2_O=&GAD3_O=60007%2c+Illinois%2c+United+States&GAD4_O=&radius=5&countryID=244&dataSource=MapPoint.NA

We'll be in the Conference Booth (separated by curtains) at the Starbucks.

We'll have cool project updates and demos.

Thanks again to the folks that showed up last time. We all enjoyed seeing the games in progress.

Take care,
Curiosoft

[cableshaft]

I really wish I lived closer to Chicago. The only reason I haven't been to these meetings is because for me it's a two and a half hour drive to get there and I always have to get up at 7am on Monday. That and it's hard to justify driving for five hours for a 1-2 hour meeting.

[Curiosoft]

I really wish I lived closer to Chicago. The only reason I haven't been to these meetings is because for me it's a two and a half hour drive to get there and I always have to get up at 7am on Monday. That and it's hard to justify driving for five hours for a 1-2 hour meeting.

What if that 1-2 hour meeting saves you 100 hours of development time? Then would it be worth the drive?

You've been talking about doing a game for a while, how much progress have you made?

If what you're doing now isn't working, give the meeting a try. I find it helpful to talk to fellow indies about my projects, etc.

Take care,
Curiosoft

[Mike Boeh]

Is it really "Free"? :-)

[Reactor]

There's a free trial, and then it's $19.95 ;)

[cableshaft]

What if that 1-2 hour meeting saves you 100 hours of development time? Then would it be worth the drive?

Point taken.

You've been talking about doing a game for a while, how much progress have you made?

One fairly successful prototype that's been spreading around the 'net (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=proximity+game&btnG=Search) for a couple months, another game (http://www.google.com/search?q=cc+fight+club&sourceid=firefox&start=0&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8) which I sat down and finally finished as a promise I wanted to keep made over a year ago, and a couple more prototypes. I'm getting myself reacquainted with C++ now, trying to switch over from Flash to C++/SDL (it's pretty hard, I'm too attached to the conveniences of Flash). I also have an identity crisis; I can't seem to find a half-decent name that has a .COM available. And then I've got to build the website for that (which I may delegate to my brother).

In short, I've got a lot of things to do, and I'm pretty sure I know the best way to do them, before I even get to the game developing portion.

But of course that's not the whole story. That's mostly just an excuse. What's stopping me from going is I'm afraid I won't have anything worth sharing. Yes, I've made some games, but they're all in Flash, amateur looking, and they don't have a viable method of income generation behind them. I have an irrational fear that I'd go to the meeting, look and feel like a n00b, and then go home dejected. In reality, I'd get some feedback and more motivation for my own projects and be able to put a face on some of the people I talk to here, but my brain keeps telling me "it can wait another month until you've got more to show them."

[Andy]

Is it really "Free"? :-)

Yeah, I was wondered by the same question really... ;)
Is Chicago already free?! Woah... How about apple and frisco? :D

[Curiosoft]

What if that 1-2 hour meeting saves you 100 hours of development time? Then would it be worth the drive?

Point taken.

You've been talking about doing a game for a while, how much progress have you made?

One fairly successful prototype that's been spreading around the 'net (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=proximity+game&btnG=Search) for a couple months, another game (http://www.google.com/search?q=cc+fight+club&sourceid=firefox&start=0&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8) which I sat down and finally finished as a promise I wanted to keep made over a year ago, and a couple more prototypes. I'm getting myself reacquainted with C++ now, trying to switch over from Flash to C++/SDL (it's pretty hard, I'm too attached to the conveniences of Flash). I also have an identity crisis; I can't seem to find a half-decent name that has a .COM available. And then I've got to build the website for that (which I may delegate to my brother).

In short, I've got a lot of things to do, and I'm pretty sure I know the best way to do them, before I even get to the game developing portion.

But of course that's not the whole story. That's mostly just an excuse. What's stopping me from going is I'm afraid I won't have anything worth sharing. Yes, I've made some games, but they're all in Flash, amateur looking, and they don't have a viable method of income generation behind them. I have an irrational fear that I'd go to the meeting, look and feel like a n00b, and then go home dejected. In reality, I'd get some feedback and more motivation for my own projects and be able to put a face on some of the people I talk to here, but my brain keeps telling me "it can wait another month until you've got more to show them."

It's great to hear you are making progress. We also talk about marketing stuff too.

Bro...We will not laugh you out of the water. We don't care about Flash or C++, etc. We care about fun games. Some of us also care about making money off our games. There is a wide variance in the progress of folks that attend the meetings.

Personally, I would love to talk to you about flash. It seems like Web Downloadable Games are the way to go now. In fact, a regular attendee is getting into Flash too (I think).

We'd love to see ya at the meeting. Give it one try...I promise it'll be better than a dentist visit ;)

Later,
Curiosoft

[Curiosoft]

There's a free trial, and then it's $19.95 ;)

Actually, I'm debating about whether we should have a time-limited trial or feature-limited trial.

We could have new members test out the meeting for 20 minutes and then ask them to "Get Now" (I think "Buy Now" may lower registration rates ;) )

Or...we can have a feature-limited trial where we allow new members to only hear the voice of select members in the group. We would figure out a way to filter out the other folks in the conversation. So they would have to piece together the whole conversation...until they decided to "Get Now" ;)

We'll do a Split A/B test this upcoming meeting to find the method that works best.

Later,
Curiosoft

[cableshaft]

Provided my car doesn't break down along the way, I'll be there. :)

I might stop by Chinatown before I head over to do some weapons shopping / dinner / pick up some pork buns from a bakery. Any requests? :)

[Mike Boeh]

Something came up that caused me to miss it :( I will be at the next one though. I was excited to go too, because I had a beta of my new game ready...

[GBGames]

I'll be honest that one of the reasons I haven't been able to make it is that these meetings tend to be short notice.

Another major reason, even if I can make it, is that I would feel embarrassed that I haven't actually made any visible progress on my own projects. Yeah, I've done research and the like, but I don't have any prototypes or concept art ready yet, and it hasn't changed really in months. Showing up to a meeting months later to say, "Look, I made a few treatments of my ideas" isn't very good for my pride. B-\

On the other hand, I do remember the encouragement I got the last time I went, something along the lines of, "Hey, if you really want to get this stuff done, you need to realize that you need to give it the time it needs, which means you will need to cut time from other things." These past weeks I haven't been giving my projects the time they deserve, and so more prodding from colleagues wouldn't hurt. B-)

[Curiosoft]

I'll be honest that one of the reasons I haven't been able to make it is that these meetings tend to be short notice.

Another major reason, even if I can make it, is that I would feel embarrassed that I haven't actually made any visible progress on my own projects. Yeah, I've done research and the like, but I don't have any prototypes or concept art ready yet, and it hasn't changed really in months. Showing up to a meeting months later to say, "Look, I made a few treatments of my ideas" isn't very good for my pride. B-\

On the other hand, I do remember the encouragement I got the last time I went, something along the lines of, "Hey, if you really want to get this stuff done, you need to realize that you need to give it the time it needs, which means you will need to cut time from other things." These past weeks I haven't been giving my projects the time they deserve, and so more prodding from colleagues wouldn't hurt. B-)

Bro,

Every excuse you make weakens you.

I think 1 weeks notice is plenty of time. I will amend the process to send out a reminder 1.5 weeks before-hand and then 1 week before-hand.

You can always take the Metra to Schaumburg -- I pick up another guy from the train station anyway.

Later,
Curiosoft

[GBGames]

Bro,

Every excuse you make weakens you.


I completely agree. Coming to a meeting with nothing to show for it, I will feel compelled to start making excuses for it, and I know I don't want to do that.

Realistically, I am looking at my "excuses" as challenges. My time to dedicate to game development is minimal, but it is there, and I have to realize that. Working only 20 minutes a week is better than working never, and from what I've read from other people's experiences, I will more than likely find I have even more time than that.



I think 1 weeks notice is plenty of time. I will amend the process to send out a reminder 1.5 weeks before-hand and then 1 week before-hand.


It isn't always good enough (plans get made sometimes over a week in advance), but even if it is posted earlier, it doesn't guarantee that I will see it. I don't live on these forums, I just vacation here. B-)

Now, if these meetings were at a regular time, say the third Sunday of every month, I could (and will) plan around that.

My reluctance is more from embarrassment than anything else though. I know I've done some work since the last time I was at a meeting, but like I said, it isn't really tangible. It's mostly research. I know I've done something, but I can't really show it off and prove that I've made progress. One of my goals is to have at least one prototype to work with, if only to show to myself that I can do it. Right now, I feel kind of lame, like a kid who says, "I want to make games" and then doesn't ever do anything about it. Sorta like looking into a glass bowl and seeing myself, if that makes sense.

[Curiosoft]

GB,

Forget about bringing a game. Stop by the meeting to give the rest of us feedback on ours. We all would love an expert reviewer's feedback :)

The Indie Games meeting is on the last Sunday of every month. So...the next meeting is on Halloween :)

Later,
Curiosoft