Reminder: Pitch Meeting II on Thursday

The second of two project pitch meetings is this Thursday, September 10, in OLS005 at 6:00 PM. Projects to be pitched at this meeting include Dan Epstein's RecursiO(n^2), a time-bending 2D puzzle game for the Nintendo DS, Justin Holmes' Gladiators, a 2D spell-based fighting game, Christopher Hooe's Empyreal, a 3D top-down shooter, and John Will's and Dan Magnusson's Yggdrasil, a game engine which will be utilized in a subsequent semester to produce an massively multiplayer online game. Detailed information on all of these projects will be posted to the website at 7:00 PM EDT after the meeting.

If you wish to participate in SGD this semester, you must apply to work on a project (or projects) of your choice at one of the two pitch meetings; i.e. attending this meeting is your last chance to sign up for the SGD project of your choice this semester. Team rosters are initially at the discretion of the projects' respective directors, though members wishing to participate in projects who either A) missed both pitch meetings, or B) were not initially accepted onto a project will be added to projects by club officers on a per-project need basis. If you fall into either of these categories, please email us notifying us of your desire to contribute to an SGD project, along with the top three projects you are interested in, and you will be placed onto the team most in need by an SGD officer.

Finally, if you are a current SGD member and have yet to pay yearly dues, you may do so during Thursday's meeting. Dues are $10 and should be paid in person directly to our Treasurer, Dan Epstein

Project Pitch: Laser Lockdown

The second of several projects the Student Game Developers will pursue this semester, Laser Lockdown is a player-vs-player first-person shooter centered around a game of laser tag. Unique to this project is the use of Nintendo's Wiimote to create a head-tracking control scheme.

The project is to be completed over the course of two semesters using the Ox Engine in the XNA platform. At least three and up to seven positions are available, including Wiimote specialists, 3D artists, gameplay designers / programmers, and audio specialists. Laser Lockdown is directed by fourth-year CS major Chris Dodge.

Click here to download the Powerpoint presentation for Laser Lockdown.

Project Pitch: T-Cubed

Beginning...well, now, information about projects the Student Game Developers will pursue during the Fall 2009 semester will appear on the website. SGD intends to develop at least five games this semester, and by the end of next week overview information regarding all of these projects will be posted. The foremost project we are formally announcing is T-Cubed.

T-Cubed is a multilayered puzzle game based upon one of the most popular video games of all time, Tetris. Players will have to combine their reflexes and joystick jockeying skills with their quick-thinking Tetris skills, as players must compete in a variety of mini-games to earn money which can be used to blow up completed rows and purchase other useful power-ups to score higher and continue the Tetris game.

The project is to be completed over the course of one semester using the XNA platform. At least two and up to six positions are available, focusing in the game design and programming facets of the project. The T-Cubed project is directed by second-year CS major Andrew Gaubatz.

Click here to download the Powerpoint presentation for T-Cubed (which contains more information and a gameplay mock-up).

Reminder: Pitch Meeting I on Thursday

The first of two project pitch meetings is this Thursday, September 3, in OLS005 at 6:00 PM. Projects to be pitched at this meeting include Chris Dodge's Laser Lockdown, a 3D Wiimote-controlled laser tag game, and Andrew Gaubatz's T-Cubed, a 3D puzzle game project. Detailed information on both will be posted in a future post following the formal pitch presentations to the SGD club proper at this meeting.

If you wish to participate in SGD this semester, you must apply to work on a project (or projects) of your choice at one of the two pitch meetings. Team rosters are initially at the discretion of the projects' respective directors, though members wishing to participate in projects who either A) missed both pitch meetings, or B) were not initially accepted onto a project will be added to projects by club officers on a per-project need basis.

2 Tips for SGD Members Looking to Get a Games Job

Getting into the games industry is more difficult than ever during this economic crisis. But there are a few things that aspiring developers can do to greatly increase their chances of getting a job offer one day.

The following two tips are taken from the BreakIntoGamesCareer.com article, "The Top 10 Things You Can Do to Increase Your Chances of Becoming a Game Developer"

1) Work on independent game projects.

One of the most important aspects of an application that game company recruiters look for in applicants is their experience. If they can’t make a small game on their own, how are they going to work with a team to make a multi-million dollar title? Team up with some friends and work on a game. It doesn’t have to be a full featured console title, just make sure you finish it. Unfinished projects don’t count. This is something that puts all SGD members way ahead of the curve.

2) Narrow your field of expertise.

While it’s good to be able to do many things at a small company or small project, larger more established companies will be looking for the best people in a given specialty. If you’re an artist, pick characters or environments and focus on that. If you’re an engineer, focus on artificial intelligence, graphics, or whatever your passion is. Decide what you’re going to do and become an expert.

If you focus on the core aspects of an applicant that recruiters are going to be looking for, then you'll have a great shot at nailing that job offer.

For more tips, resources, articles, and other information pertaining to getting into the video game industry, be sure to visit BreakIntoGamesCareer.com

Best of luck everyone, and have a great semester!

SGD XNA Library Information

To all directors whose projects will be developed in XNA Game Studio 3.0 or later, I have compiled (and I am continuously adding to) a code library for SGD specifically targeted for the XNA development environment. If you wish to use this, please email me for instructions as to how to obtain it.

Here's what the code library currently contains:

• Keyboard management class; useful for reading input off the keyboard. Can test for presses of a single key, whether a key is being held down, and also for a series of keystrokes (useful for programming cheat codes, for example).
• Controller management class; useful for reading input off of up to four XBOX360 gamepads.
• Mouse management class; useful for reading input off of the mouse.
• Resource pool class; useful for initializing a set amount of objects that will be used repeatedly, such a projectiles from weapons; correct implementation saves time and memory.
• XML reading and writing capability with any user-defined class
• Sound effect management class; useful for managing and playing sound effects.
• Game state management classes; useful for (obviously) game state management.

Planned for future implementations:

• A simple menu system implementation.
• A class to create a textured 3D mesh from a 2D image (i.e. a height map)

Any feature suggestions and code submissions are welcome as well; just drop me an email. If you submit code, you will obviously be credited for your work.

8/27 Meeting Wrap-Up

For those of you who missed today's Introductory Meeting, the Powerpoint presentation shown at the meeting, which includes background information about the club and a rundown of club protocol and expectations, can be downloaded by clicking here.

Highlights of discussion at the meeting:

• Pitch Meetings are Thursday, September 3 and September 10; the projects which SGD will pursue this semester will be detailed at these two meetings by each project's respective director. If you wish to work on a project with SGD during the Fall 2009 semester, you should attend both of these meetings, which will be in OLS005 at 6:00 PM on both dates.
• Yearly dues for SGD are $10; if you do not pay, you are not eligible to participate in SGD events after Pitch Meetings have concluded until you do so. Dues should be paid directly to SGD Treasurer Dan Epstein.
• For returning SGD members: t-shirts promised at the end of last year should arrive sometime next week.