Winter ’16 Game Jam Entries

Game Competition Entries

Last month, there were eight great game entries that members of Knoxville Game Design created for the Winter ’16 game development competition.  The theme for this competition was “One Room”.  The entries by our group are listed below in no specific order.

Your the only person that matters by Jacob

Your The Only Person That Matters is a game about saving before fighting the final boss.  To win you must confirm you want to save.

Da Vinci’s Revenge by Jax

You are a troll and you are after Leonardo Da Vinci because he killed your family. So go kill him now!

Room by Jeffry

My two sons wanted me to make a game while they made games too. So I made this shmup. All made in game maker studio pro (thanks humble bundle), sounds via sound recorder app on my phone.

Eye in the Sky by Joe

Your goal in Eye in the Sky is to find the requested people using the casino security camera feeds. There are 4 different views set up looking into one room – the casino floor. People will be freely moving around the room and as such you’ll need to look at all the cameras to see where they might have gone. You can click on any of the camera feeds to zoom in on that view in the room, which will help you pick out the correct person. The score is based on how quickly you are able to find each person, with no points given after a certain amount of time. There is no gameover, feel free to play as long as you like!

Isolation Knight by Dylan

Persistence pays as you confront a series of enemies, each requiring their own unique strategy. Learn skills and spells as you try to escape the isolation your captors have placed you into.

Free the Frog by Levi

Help Froggy escape the room by collecting the quantum accelerator artifact. When the artifact is collected, Froggy leaps through time and space to the exact same room in another dimension! Help Froggy avoid the dangers so that he can hope that the next leap will be the leap home!

Zombie Swarm by Jason

Its a twin-stick type shooter set in the mythical zombie apocalypse. While enemies are coming at you from all directions, you will want to watch your shots as your ammunition is limited. Thankfully for you, it appears that every zombie is carrying at least one or two bullets, or a grenade. You only get one life, and the zombies are coming faster and faster, how long will you survive?

Fair Damsel in Distress by Ruth Ann

This platformer game for children was developed using Processing version 2 with Java. Only one level (hardest) is provided here. New feature for touch screens is showcased.

Time lapse Videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBnXjVvFaOc

Season Finale – Game Design Chat #12

Podcast

Game Design Chat is a monthly podcast by members of the Knoxville Game Design Meetup discussing a single game each episode. Please be aware the full game is discussed and the entire episode should be considered a spoiler for anyone who has not played the game.

This month’s game was Dwarf Fortress, however most of us were not able to get into the game, so we discuss several games played over the holidays.

The hosts this month are:
Levi Smith – @gatechgrad – levidsmith.com
Michael Neel – @ViNull – vinull.com

Knox Game Design
Knox Game Design
Season Finale - Game Design Chat #12
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January 8, 2017 Meetup – A New Direction

Links & Notes

From Mike Neel:

Hello Knox Game Design members!

Normally I’d have the default template here, but I’m skipping all that in hopes you’ll take a moment to read this email closer and join us this Sunday.

This will be the last meetup of Knox Game Design that I will be organizing.  I’m stepping down Lead Organizer (that’s what I’ve called myself if you were curious) after this meeting.

The first meeting of the group, originally called KnoXNA, was February 2010.  The group was part XNA game development and part robotics, mostly Lego Mindstorm bots but with an eye on using Microsoft Robotics Studio and XNA for bigger things.   We met weekly, which was a crazy pace for a group, and held mini challenges for the robots while talk though the XNA examples provided by Microsoft.  Things slowed down, the robotics side tapered off, and we moved to holding the meetings monthly at the newly formed Technology Cooperative (yes, the group is older than the TechCo!).  As Microsoft began to sunset XNA we renamed the group Knox Game Design to match an existing Facebook of local ITT Tech game design graduates.

This is a long time to have run a community group, and though I love it, it is something that takes time.  I’ve been over stretching myself lately and it’s time to dial back.  I want to focus on some of the things I’ve put off because I haven’t had the time and energy to do them.

We seen a lot of game designers, artists, programmers, musicians, and more at the meetups over the years.  I hope that this continues, and so the topic at this meetup will be to discuss the group and where it goes in 2017 and beyond.

The Podcast

I have to admit I failed this time to play the selected game, Dwarf Fortress.  I gave it several attempts but the legends were true and this is not an easy game to jump into.  I’d still love to record a podcast after the meetup, and open it up to games we played over the break.

Location and Time

The meetup will be held at the Technology Cooperative located at 13 Emory Place, Knoxville TN.  Parking is available in front of the Technology Cooperative.

Inside – Game Design Chat #11

Podcast

Game Design Chat is a monthly podcast by members of the Knoxville Game Design Meetup discussing a single game each episode. Please be aware the full game is discussed and the entire episode should be considered a spoiler for anyone who has not played the game.

This month’s game is Inside and January’s game will be Dwarf Fortress.

The hosts this month are:
Levi Smith – @gatechgrad – levidsmith.com
Joe Miller – @DoublesquareJoe – doublesquarellc.com
Michael Neel – @ViNull – vinull.com

Knox Game Design
Knox Game Design
Inside - Game Design Chat #11
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November 13th, 2016 Meetup and Website Updates

Meetings

Knoxgamedesign.org Website Updates

Available now on the site is a new Community Forums section and a Directory of local game designers and related roles.  Please take a moment to check these new sections out and if so include, setup an account and add yourself to the Directory.  (note: if you already have an account because you helped test these features, first thank you, and second your account is still there but the forums were reset and the profile fields have changed, including making the Directory opt-in which is why you won’t see yourself listed at first.)

This Months Topic: Unity and GameMaker – Sunday Nov 13th, 2016 2PM

Last month we saw a pretty large turnout of new members and discussed in brief several game creation tools.  This month we’ll look a bit more into two of the more popular tools among meetup regulars: Unity and GameMaker.  If you’re an experienced user of one of the tools, come ready to show off a feature or two (plan on short, 15-20 minutes mini talks instead of a full hour long deep dive).  If you’re interested in using one of these tool, come ready with questions!

No December Meetup, Game Jam Instead

The game jam will be held December 9th – 12th, 2016.  More details to come as we get closer to the event, but know that we won’t be holding the regular meetup that weekend and instead meeting

Next Game Design Chat Podcast Game is Amnesia: The Dark Descent

This month’s game is Inside (available for Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One)

Hunted and alone, a boy finds himself drawn into the center of a dark project.

The podcast is recorded after the regular meetup ends.  Anyone is welcome to join the discussion with the only requirement being that you have played the game.  I highly recommend taking notes while playing so you have a good set of taking points for the podcast and have less of a chance of forgetting something!

You can check out all previous episodes at knoxgamedesign.org/podcast and subscribe to the show on iTunes, Google Play or via the direct feed.

Location and Time

The meetup will be held at the Technology Cooperative located at 13 Emory Place, Knoxville TN.  Parking is available in front of the Technology Cooperative.  We start at 2PM and open with some roundtable discussion and a Show ‘n Tell where everyone can show a bit of their in progress game, favorite tool, mechanic they love in another game, or anything they find helpful and want to share with the group.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent – Game Design Chat #10

Podcast

Game Design Chat is a monthly podcast by members of the Knoxville Game Design Meetup discussing a single game each episode. Please be aware the full game is discussed and the entire episode should be considered a spoiler for anyone who has not played the game.

This month’s game is Amnesia: The Dark Descent and next month’s game will be Inside.

The hosts this month are:
Dylan Wolf – @dylanwolf – dylanwolf.com
Michael Neel – @ViNull – vinull.com

Knox Game Design
Knox Game Design
Amnesia: The Dark Descent - Game Design Chat #10
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Game Design October Meetup – October 9th, 2016

Meetings

This Months Topic: Open Discussion

This month is an open Q&A / Show’N Tell and we’ll talk about some of the changes happening at the website.

Next Game Jam Date Announced

The dates for the game jam have been announced – mark your calendars for December 9th – 12th, 2016.  More details to come as we get closer to the event.

Next Game Design Chat Podcast Game is Amnesia: The Dark Descent

This month’s game is Amnesia: The Dark Descent (available for Windows, Mac, and Linux)

Amnesia: The Dark Descent puts you in the shoes of Daniel as he wakes up in a desolate castle, barely remembering anything about his past. Exploring the eerie pathways, you must also take part of Daniel’s troubled memories. The horror does not only come from the outside, but from the inside as well. A disturbing odyssey into the dark corners of the human mind awaits.

The podcast is recorded after the regular meetup ends.  Anyone is welcome to join the discussion with the only requirement being that you have played the game.  I highly recommend taking notes while playing so you have a good set of taking points for the podcast and have less of a chance of forgetting something!

You can check out all previous episodes at knoxgamedesign.org/podcast and subscribe to the show on iTunes, Google Play or via the direct feed.

Location and Time

The meetup will be held at the Technology Cooperative located at 13 Emory Place, Knoxville TN.  Parking is available in front of the Technology Cooperative.  We start at 2PM and open with some roundtable discussion and a Show ‘n Tell where everyone can show a bit of their in progress game, favorite tool, mechanic they love in another game, or anything they find helpful and want to share with the group.

Barony – Game Design Chat Episode #9

Podcast

Game Design Chat is a monthly podcast by members of the Knoxville Game Design Meetup discussing a single game each episode. Please be aware the full game is discussed and the entire episode should be considered a spoiler for anyone who has not played the game.

This month’s game is Barony and next month’s game will be Amnesia: The Dark Descent.

The hosts this month are:
Dylan Wolf – @dylanwolf – dylanwolf.com
Levi Smith – @gatechgrad – levidsmith.com
Michael Neel – @ViNull – vinull.com

Knox Game Design
Knox Game Design
Barony - Game Design Chat Episode #9
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Summer ’16 Game Jam Results – September 11th, 2016 Meetup

Game Competition Entries, Meetings

This Month’s Topic:  Game Jam Results

Last month was the game jam and we had seven(!) entries from members of Knoxville Game Design.  Join us this month as we share our entries and discuss what went right, what went wrong, and what was learned.

The theme was “Ancient Technology” and here are the games submitted:

Legend of the Psychedelic Skull by Paul & Marc

Watch the compass arrow, it will point towards the skull you need to pick up (if it points all the way up, you’ve already collected it)
Get past level 9 and………well, lets see what happens.

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Orecka The Alien-Sweeper by Ruth Ann

The unexplainable complexity, size, and precision in constructing The Great Pyramid at Giza (completed around 2560 BC) has led some to conjecture that aliens had a hand in building the pyramids in Giza. This simple action game designed for my preschool grandchildren tests speed and reaction time as they help Orecka The Alien-Sweeper vacuum the Alien Building Supervisors away from the pyramids.

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Clockwork Man by Jacob

A game about a clockwork man that fights of intruders.

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Khufu’s Delivery Service by Joe

At KDS your job is to sort the incoming cut stone from the quarry for sending to the builders at Giza. Efficiency is the goal, sending a full load means less time wasted counting on the other end and a quicker turnaround for that team for you.
Oh, and the builders also offer a bonus for color-matching boards of any size, as it helps them utilize the stone quicker.
Keep the process flowing and everyone stays happy, got it?

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Ancient Adventure by Levi

Find the eight ancient artifacts in the ruins to become the supreme being!

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Retrofuture Archaeology by Dylan

Use the parts provided to activate the indicated devices.

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Cave Escape by Mike, Rachel, and Hannah

The goal is to escape the cave you have found yourself in.

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Next Game Design Chat Podcast Game is Barony: Cursed Edition

This month’s game is Barony: Cursed Edition (available for Windows, Mac, and Linux)

Barony is a 3D, first-person roguelike. The goal of the game is to descend to the bottom of a dark dungeon known as the Devil’s Bastion and destroy an undead lich named Baron Herx, who terrorized the peaceful town of Hamlet in life and is now harboring a curse against the land from beyond the grave. To aid you in your quest are friendly humans who have been eeking out a rough life within the dungeon for generations, as well as any friends you can bring with you in real life: Barony is the first of its kind as a first-person roguelike in that it fully supports cooperative multiplayer for up to four players.

The podcast is recorded after the regular meetup ends.  Anyone is welcome to join the discussion with the only requirement being that you have played the game.  I highly recommend taking notes while playing so you have a good set of taking points for the podcast and have less of a chance of forgetting something!

You can check out all previous episodes at knoxgamedesign.org/podcast and subscribe to the show on iTunes, Google Play or via the direct feed.

Location and Time

The meetup will be held at the Technology Cooperative located at 13 Emory Place, Knoxville TN.  Parking is available in front of the Technology Cooperative.  We start at 2PM and open with some roundtable discussion and a Show ‘n Tell where everyone can show a bit of their in progress game, favorite tool, mechanic they love in another game, or anything they find helpful and want to share with the group.

Summer ’16 Game Jam: August 26th – 29th, 2016

Meetings

It’s time for another game jam!  If you’ve been to a jam in the past, it will be very similar.

We will meet Friday August 26th @7PM at the Technology Cooperative – The game jam officially kicks off at 9PM when the game theme is announced.  This will be a good time for any last minute questions on the jam, software, or process you have for making your game.

From Friday until Sunday work on your game.  We won’t be keeping the Techco open the whole weekend for the jam.

We’ll share and recap our entries at the next meetup on September 11th, 2016.

Some Notes:

Your game does not need to be complex and you don’t need to spend every hour of the jam devoted to making the game.  Simple is better, and seeing friends and family is a good break to keep you fresh.  The goal is to finish, and the reward is having completed a game!  You can enter solo or as a team and parents, this is a great activity to do together with your kids.

What you should do before the jam:

  • Read over the rules of the game jam and decide if you’ll be doing the “compo” or “jam” version.
  • Get your development system ready to go – figure out what software you’ll be using and make sure it’s ready to go.
    A list of common tools others have used in the game jam is listed on the Tools page, and links from previous meetups can be found on our site.
  • Make an account on the game jam website
  • Make an account on Itch.io (optional, but great place to host your entry)
  • Check the game jam site to vote on themes
  • It’s common to live stream your game development – if you plan to do this then:
    • Setup a Twitch.tv account
    • Install Open Broadcaster Software – a free, open source app for live streaming
    • Test out Twitch and OBS (don’t wait to the jam to start learning about live streaming!)
  • It’s also common to make a timelapse video of your development, and there are some tools to help with this too.  Again, test this out on your system before the jam beings.