Hi everyone,

This month’s Boston Post Mortem is Tuesday, June 11th at 7pm at The Skellig in Waltham.

Our presentation this month will be by Seth Sivak of Proletariat Inc., who will be giving a post mortem on ‘Building an Indie Studio: the Transition from Zynga to Proletariat’.

Most developers have thought about going indie. Some even save their pennies, pay their dues and crunch like crazy for the hope of one day doing it on their own. I had that dream, then one unsuspecting day I got laid off, my studio was closed, and the rest of the team was out of work. A group of us woke up the next day and decided to start a new studio, run it our way and work our asses off chasing the dream.

This is a post mortem on our experience being laid off from Zynga, founding Proletariat Inc. and building a new studio over the last six months. All the lessons we have learned, and all the things we would do again, along with a few cute pictures of sloths.

Additionally, beverages are being sponsored for this meeting by BlueSnap!

BlueSnap™ is a comprehensive global buying platform that fuels growth for companies serving digital, physical and mobile markets. A single dynamic platform, BlueSnap helps businesses grow faster through a configurable and flexible approach to eCommerce, Payment Processing, eMarketing and Subscription billing. Businesses can simply integrate BlueSnap’s innovative and powerful BuyNow capability solutions anywhere onto their web sites supporting any merchant buying model. BlueSnap’s global network securely supports over 5,000 online businesses in 180 countries in multiple languages, currencies, payment methods and devices.

Logistics:
Tuesday, June 11th
7pm @ The Skellig, Waltham
Directions: http://www.bostonpostmortem.org/directions/

See you on Tuesday!

This month’s Boston Post Mortem is THIS WEEK, WEDNESDAY, May 15th at 7pm at The Skellig in Waltham.

Our presentation this month will be by D.B. Cooper, who will be giving two audio talks, one on directing dialogue and another on performing exertion sounds:

This month’s Boston Post Mortem is next week, TUESDAY, April 16th at 7pm at The Skellig in Waltham.

Our presentation this month will be by Jon Radoff, Tim Crosby, and Rich Gallup from Disruptor Beam, who will be taking the stage to deliver a postmortem on Game of Thrones Ascent:

Disruptor Beam will present a post mortem on the development and on-going support of the new Facebook game, Game of Thrones Ascent. They will discuss the challenges of building an online social game for a market as demanding as Game of thrones fans. Additionally they will break down what they’ve learned while shifting from developing a product to operating a live service that features weekly content updates that have been released in tandem with the television series.

Speakers: Jon Radoff, CEO. Tim Crosby, Lead Game Designer. Rich Gallup, Live Producer.

Logistics:

Tuesday, April 16th
7pm @ The Skellig, Waltham
Directions: http://www.bostonpostmortem.org/directions/

This month’s Boston Post Mortem is next week, Wednesday, February 13th at 7pm at The Skellig in Waltham.

Our presentation this month will be by Jonathon Myers, who will be taking the stage to deliver a talk on narrative in games:

An Ounce of Prevention – Narrative and Process

If implemented well, the narrative elements of a game can increase player engagement. Unfortunately, a “just add story and words” attitude is commonly adopted as an approach to narrative in games when the reality is that the process is neither simple nor easy. And yet, investing in narrative can still pay off. So, what should a team consider before investing time and resources on story? What does it mean to commit to the development of narrative elements alongside gameplay features? Jonathon will discuss ideas on how to integrate narrative design into a game development process. He’ll provide examples of good practices, identify common obstacles to an efficient narrative process, and warn against costly mistakes that projects should avoid. Throughout the presentation, he will compare successful and unsuccessful implementations of narrative elements in games.

Most concepts and examples will be drawn from the development of casual/social/mobile titles and smaller project teams. However, many of the takeaways will be applicable and scalable for any team working on game narrative, including those working on AAA or large-scale MMO titles.

Bio: Jonathon Myers is a Boston-based narrative designer and writer. Most recently, he planned and implemented narrative content for the launch of Game of Thrones Ascent by Disruptor Beam, where he managed the narrative pipeline and a content team of six writers who hailed from companies such as BioWare. He was previously the narrative designer and writer of the successful iOS title Jack Lumber by Owlchemy Labs, published by SEGA. After contributing as a full-time Game Writer and narrative consultant for Zynga Boston, he co-presented with Senior Game Designer Steve Williams at GDC Online on “Indiana Jones Adventure World: Narrative for Social Games.” Jonathon is scheduled for the Game Narrative Summit roundtable session “It’s Not in the Writer’s Manual: A Q&A Session for New Writers” at GDC in March.

Logistics:

Wednesday, February 13th
7pm @ The Skellig, Waltham
Directions: http://www.bostonpostmortem.org/directions/

This month’s Boston Post Mortem is next week, TUESDAY, January 8th at 7pm at The Skellig in Waltham.

Our presentation this month will be by Tom Lin from Demiurge Studios, who will be taking the stage to deliver a postmortem on Shoot Many Robots:

Demiurge Studios has been in business for over ten years, mostly working on AAA franchises like Mass Effect, Borderlands, Bioshock, and Rock Band. But those weren’t OUR franchises! We fixed this by shipping Shoot Many Robots, our indie labor of love that got picked up by Ubisoft and shipped on XBLA, PSN, and PC. The development process went swimmingly, and we have the scars to prove it! Listen to Tom Lin, Demiurge’s Creative Director, talk about our top 5 good & bad development decisions and why Wrestle Many Robots could be the next big thing.

Logistics:

Tuesday, January 8th
7pm @ The Skellig, Waltham
Directions: http://www.bostonpostmortem.org/directions/

This month’s Boston Post Mortem is next week, WEDNESDAY, December 12th at 7pm at The Skellig in Waltham.

Our presentation this month will be by John Lanza and Daniel Rose from Foley & Lardner LLP, who will be taking the stage to deliver a talk on legal issues impacting game developers.

John and Daniel will present a split topic presentation of interest to both indie developers and developers at more established studios. First, they will talk about crowd sourced fundraising systems, what the primary differences are, and what potential liabilities and pitfalls to watch out for.  Second, they are going to talk about recent copyright cases involving design elements in video games, such as the use of Bell Helicopters in Battlefield 3, individuals’ likenesses in sports or music games, and others.

Bio: John Lanza and Daniel Rose are patent attorneys with the electronics practice group of Foley & Lardner LLP, and have represented several video game developers and manufacturers of artificial intelligence and level design middleware. Their current projects include a subscription-based comprehensive legal service product geared towards small game studios. Both are avid gamers, currently wrapped up in Assassin’s Creed III and Borderlands 2.

Foley & Lardner LLP will also be providing some FREE FOOD for our meeting!

Logistics:

Wednesday, December 12th
7pm @ The Skellig, Waltham
Directions: http://www.bostonpostmortem.org/directions/

This month’s Boston Post Mortem will be held on WEDNESDAY, November 14th at 7pm at The Skellig in Waltham.

Our presentation this month will be by Alex Schwartz and Kate Mann of Owlchemy Labs, who will be taking the stage to deliver a post mortem of their latest title, Jack Lumber.

• How do you maintain your voice as an indie while working with one of the most recognizable AAA publishers in the games industry?

• How do you market a low budget indie game in a way that grabs people’s attention, makes them laugh out loud, and implants your brand into their brain juices?

• How does one fund, design, prototype, build, market, sell, and maintain an original IP with a small team and small budget?

• How is babby formed?

In answering these questions, Owlchemy aims to give a peek behind the curtain and reveal the inner workings of the development and marketing of a short form mobile indie game.

Logistics:

Wednesday, November 14th
7pm @ The Skellig, Waltham
Directions: http://www.bostonpostmortem.org/directions/

The Boston Post Mortem for October will be on WEDNESDAY, October 24th at 7pm at The Skellig in Waltham. We have a special guest speaker with a special format. Scott Crabtree will be giving an interactive talk and workshop based on his succesful GDC talk on better game development through good mental health. The talk will begin a bit earlier in the evening than normal, due to the format. Please note, the meeting will be two weeks later in the month than usual!

This Is Your Brain On Game Development: Happy Productivity Through Science

At GDC this talk received average ratings of 4.89/5! Come and participate in this new interactive workshop version.

Neuroscience and psychology offer concrete, applicable techniques to improve morale and productivity in game development.  Learn the power and limits of the prefrontal cortex, and how to help it work at its best. Learn what makes memory work—and fail to work—so you can both teach and learn as effectively as possible. Learn to manage stress—especially social stress so common in the office—that adversely affects brain performance. Learn to make yourself and your teammates happier, so your brains work better. You will leave this talk a smarter and happier game developer.

Speaker Bio: Scott Crabtree earned his Cognitive Science degree from Vassar in 1988. Immediately afterwards he worked on artificial intelligence software including expert systems. He started working at the first of several game development companies in 1996. Serving as a Software Engineer, Game Designer, Producer, and Entrepreneur, Scott is proud to have worked on game development with companies including Microsoft, Mattel, Disney, LEGO, Nike and more. He’s published games for PS2, Xbox, PC, and mobile phones including the iPhone. He joined Intel in 2005 as an Engineering Manager focused on video game developers. He is fascinated by and passionately studies organizational development, human psychology, neuroscience, and the science of happiness and well-being. He left Intel in 2012 to work full time on helping people and organizations apply neuroscience and psychology to become happier and more productive.

You can learn more about the science of happiness and Scott on www.HappyBrainScience.com

Logistics:

Wednesday, October 24th
7pm @ The Skellig, Waltham
Directions: http://www.bostonpostmortem.org/directions/

]]> http://www.bostonpostmortem.org/2012/09/17/october-meeting-2012-scott-crabtree/feed/ 0 http://www.bostonpostmortem.org/2012/09/05/september-meeting-2012/ http://www.bostonpostmortem.org/2012/09/05/september-meeting-2012/#comments Wed, 05 Sep 2012 18:46:56 +0000 Dan Salsberg http://www.bostonpostmortem.org/?p=1255

The time has come for nominations for the Boston Post Mortem/Boston IGDA Chapter Board of Directors. Those of you interested in running for the Boston Post Mortem/IGDA Boston Chapter Board of Directors should thoroughly read the information below and, if you agree to abide by all of the requirements, email your nomination form to us at board@bostonpostmortem.org by or before August 26th, 2012.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Happy elections!

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BOSTON POST MORTEM/BOSTON IGDA CHAPTER ELECTION INFORMATION

Call for Nominations

The Boston Post Mortem/IGDA Boston Chapter Board of Directors shall supervise and control the business, property, and affairs of the Chapter, except as otherwise expressly provided by law, the IGDA Chapter Reference Manual, or the IGDA Bylaws. The officers of the Chapter shall consist of a Chair, a Vice-Chair, a Secretary and a Treasurer. The Chapter shall have such other officers as the Board may deem necessary and such officers shall have the authority prescribed by the Board. One person may hold more than one office, other than the offices of Chair and Secretary, or Chair and Vice Chair.

Election Timeline

The following schedule will be followed for the election process:

A call for nominations and request for candidate statements. (August 13th, 2012)

Nominations closed. All nominations must be received by this date. Must be a member by this date to participate in the vote. (August 26th, 2012)

Nominees’ statements will be posted on the website. (August 26th – August 28th, 2012)

Elections start. (August 29th, 2012)

Votes will be cast using an online form (more info to come later). Ballots are compiled electronically. The winner will be announced by email or at a member meeting within one week of the close of the election period. (Elections End September 10th, 2012)

Newly elected Board Members officially take office. (September 13th, 2012)

Board Members meet and appoint officers and announce results to Chapter. (September 20, 2012)

Qualification for Office

Must be a member of the IGDA in good standing.

Must remain a member in good standing of the IGDA for the duration of their term.

Must agree to abide by the Leadership (Board of Directors) Code of Ethics found here: http://www.igda.org/sites/default/files/IGDA_Board_Code-of-Ethics.pdf

Must be able to attend 75% of the Boston Post Mortem events and/or meetings each year.

Level of Commitment

Approximately 2 – 3 hours per month (not including events), mostly through email.  Meetings will be held online or at a local dining establishment bi-annually.

Two year term on the board.

Expected attendance at 75% of the Boston Post Mortem events and/or meetings each year

Member Nominations

Any member who meets the qualifications above may nominate himself – or herself – for election, by following the procedure below.

Candidate Statements

Each candidate will have the opportunity to prepare a statement that will be published to the Chapter web site and emailed to Chapter members as part of the election materials. This statement may be no more than 400 words long. Any statements longer than 400 words will be returned to the candidate and the candidate will be asked to provide a shorter one. If no statement of 400 words or less is provided before the close of  nominations, the election materials will state that no statement was provided. Candidates are advised to maintain a professional tone and focus their statements on their personal philosophy, priorities and goals for the Chapter (e.g., 3/4 of statement). It is acceptable for candidates to provide some background on themselves (e.g., 1/4 of statement).

Candidates must send their statements to the board at board@bostonpostmortem.org, on or before the close of nominations (August 26th). No candidate’s statement will be edited for any reason. However, the sitting board reserves the right to request edits or revisions if it is deemed that a candidate’s statement contains inaccuracies, false statements, or inappropriate language or content.

Withdrawal

Candidates who want to withdraw from the election before the election materials are emailed to members should notify the board prior to the election meeting.

IGDA Nomination Application

Please read and complete the following nomination form and return it to board@bostonpostmortem.org by or before August 26th, 2012.

I hereby nominate myself, (Full Legal Name), for election to serve as a Board Member of Boston Post Mortem / Boston Chapter of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA). In consideration of my being accepted as a candidate, I certify that:

- I have read the IGDA Leadership Code of Ethics and agree to abide by its terms throughout my term of office;

- I meet the qualifications for being a board member of the Boston Post Mortem/Boston IGDA chapter as specified in the manual; and

- I understand the significance of being a board member and accept the responsibility of governing the Boston Post Mortem/Boston IGDA Chapter.

Name (please be aware that typing your name here constitutes a signature):

Email Address:

Date: