UMBC Game Developer’s Club Welcome!

About Us: We exist to give students a chance to work together and make games. We take students from any major with any level of experience in game development. We tend to make at least one 2-D game and one 3-D game per year. The GDC is a great learning experience for anyone, and an important resume-builder for anyone wanting to work in the games industry.

Officers: President – Jonathan Moriarty Vice President – Kenner Miner Treasurer – Kevin Somers Secretary – Katharine Jay Past-master – Zoe Kilbourne Ad-master – Gini Bailey Web-master(s) – Josh Poole, Dan Cassell, Isaac Sohn

Project and Meeting Schedules: General meetings are held every Wednesday at 12 noon in the ENGR 005A. Fridays at 12 noon we have a lunch in the Commons Student Orgs Space that allows us to talk and get warmed up for the project meetings. Project meetings are held on Fridays after the club lunch, and they go on as long as people want them to.

Events: Tutorials Happy Fun Game Night Global Game Jam URCAD Digital Entertainment Conference IGDA Showcase

Game Idea Selection: Game selection is a little different than previous years. If you have an idea you’d like to present, you must submit it to me via by Tuesday night at the latest. Your should contain: ▫Name ▫Description ▫Proposed Game Engine ▫Open or Closed Source ▫2D or 3D Submitted ideas will be presented next meeting. After that, we have the Project Selection Jam!

What makes a good game idea? A good game idea is not just a story. ▫“It’s a game about a super soldier fighting alien zombies, but with a twist at the end.” A good game idea has a simple game mechanic. A good game idea has a reasonable scope. ▫It takes big teams (~100 people) several years of dedication to make a AAA game. ▫We have small teams (~4-8 people), with one year, who are going to school at the same time. ▫(no MMOs please) A good game idea is original. ▫Avoid descriptions like “half-life but with…”

Project Selection Jam: What: A 48 hour marathon of rapid game development. When: Friday, September 16 th, 1 pm to Sunday, September 18 th, 1 pm. Where: ENGR 005A (here) Our projects for the year will be selected from the prototypes made at the jam.

Resources: Our website: umbcgdc.org We have a group on myUMBC for communication, so join the group and keep active. Sign in on the attendance sheet and include your address so we can add you to the GDC Mailing List. The Mailing List is used to send out important announcements and let everyone know about upcoming events. We have a facebook group. If you have a laptop, you should bring it to meetings.

Questions? Don’t forget to sign in! Hope to see you on Friday!