MakeVideoGames

“Make Video Games” met for the first time in May of 2017, meeting on alternate Sundays. It continues to meet, as of 2/4/2018.

It began with an open format, open to the public, and we would discuss ideas to see where the road would take us. From Gestalt theory, to colliders and arrays, to Syd Field’s movie formula. That is still the case, however, sessions often are: “half code, half art; half digital, half analog.” This equates to a 90 minute (we may soon expand to 2 hours) workshop in which we honor the computer programmers who write the code and the artists who write the stories. Demos by attendees get top billing.

One belief is that collaborative efforts between visual artists, writers and programmers should be more commonplace. Artists are told to learn to write code, and programmers are expected to learn to work through creative blocks and have the narrative skills of professional novelists. There may be a middle ground. Our hope is that folks can meet each other and create break-out collaborations, and the group can make games during and outside of the workshop.

From a technical perspective, we’re focused on the Unity 3D game engine, though Javascript and other libraries have been demoed. We’re also, as of winter 2018, captivated with “frameworks” which can be anything from hacking a Twilio automated phone messaging system, to Escape Room influences, and video games that have a printable, board-game counterpart. Sensors, VR and AR games are on the menu (we hope to have a Vive for PS1 someday soon).

Finally, it is the hope that this group will grow and evolve to such an extent that this Wiki entry needs a total revision.

Meetup can be found here: https://www.meetup.com/Pumping-Station-One/events/247268016/ and on our events calendar - http://pumpingstationone.org/events/. For questions about this program, contact [email protected].