Level Up Student Showcase 2012 (Come and meet me!)

[Spazzo]

This may be a bit of a long shot, but are any of you guys close to Toronto? If so, you should come out to Level Up this Monday at 5 PM:

https://www.facebook.com/events/178515082266598/

It's a pseudo-game convention where students (like myself) present video games which we've been working on for the last year to spectators, other students, and industry professionals (three cheers for networking!) from Ubisoft, Microsoft, BioWare, and whatnot. I'm going with 6 of my teammates, a handful of other students from my school, and a few of my professors.

If any of you guys are in the area, you should come out, it's going to be a blast! I'd be happy to meet anyone here who attends, I promise I don't bite ;) Just give me a heads-up on here so I can look out for you! I'll probably be manning the booth most of the time, so feel free to come by and give our game a shot :)

Plus, afterwards, we can grab some drinks downtown (19 is legal age in Ontario, for anyone crossing the border) and ramble on about SRB2, gaming, life, whatever! It's just a fun time waiting to happen ;)

As far as I know, the event is free and open to the public, so just come by 57 Adelaide Street East sometime between 5 and 11 and we'll be there! It's literally walking distance from Union Station, so if you need to bus/train it down, just get off at Union, exit via the Front St entrance, and start walking up Yonge St. Couldn't be simpler.

 

[I'll Begin]

I'd be interested if I lived in the area, man.

 

[Spazzo]

I'll Begin: Shame, I'd love to have gotten to meet you, but I suppose living on the bottom of the planet makes travel arrangements a bit more cumbersome =P

Oh, almost forgot: Here's the flyer, for anyone who wants more info:

I'm presuming the 19+ is because alcohol will be served at the event...although I can probably find a way to get you in anyways, just so long as you don't buy any booze.

Oh, and because I'm sure you guys want an idea of what my team is working on, here's a little peek:

 

[Cue]

Dammit Spazzo, don't taunt me like that. I'm across the pond. :<

Good luck though, would love to see some more of what you've been doing, going into Game Programming at Uni next year myself. =P

 

[Chibs]

Oh, and because I'm sure you guys want an idea of what my team is working on, here's a little peek:

Initial thought: Panda/Dinosaur hybrid

Revised thought: ...Dinosaur wearing a Panda costume?

I like how it looks. Obviously the wind-up segment of that animation can't be much longer because if that's a jumping animation then obviously it needs to have a quick build-up so that the actual jump doesn't lag behind the input, and you probably already know that. Still, the wind-up looks like it could go down just a verrrry teeny bit more in that frame or two for the wind-up before the snap to the main jumping animation. But it's a very minor personalized opinion, and the animation looks great as is, it's not choppy, no clipping, there's this nice motion blur effect and it gets its visualization across.

You've got me interested in this idea from a single character model and animation.

 

[Spazzo]

No, you were right the first time -- It's a Pandasaurus. I invite you to follow our progress, see a cross-section of our development process, and see what we're up to! A lot of the assets showcased on those blog posts are dated by now (the shots of the game are particularly painful to look at, considering that we've moved on from test stages and integrated our shaders now), but at least they give you an idea of the level of work we're putting in.

 

[Charybdizs]

Hm, interesting. I am in the area, and I would definitely give it a look. That is, if I had a car. Which I don't. Anyways, I think I'm working Monday Afternoon. But good luck, all the same! Sounds like it's a nice place to get your name and work out there, which is always important.

 

[Rei]

I'll try coming if I can find someone to drag along with me. I've seen posters similar around my campus and the location isn't too far, just a few buses from the college I'm at. Just a question is the age restriction just for drinks or for overall admission? If it is admission I'll find a way to smuggle myself in, lol.

 

[Spazzo]

I talked to my professors about it, and I /believe/ the 19+ restriction is for alcohol consumption, not general admission (given that the event is open and free to the public). If that isn't the case, just be a little creative, I doubt they'll be very stingy with admission :P

Awesome! Great to see someone who is going to try and make the trip. Just look for a booth with a Pandasaurus-esque game being demoed and I probably won't be very far off :P

 

[Mystyc Cheez]

Man, if I could find a way to fly up there from North Carolina, I would. I highly doubt that that would be possible, but I'll give it a shot. But what would really suck would be if I could not enter because I am 17. XD
I have always wanted to meet you in person Spazzo, you seem so cool. :D

 

[Spazzo]

Just one last final headsup: If you plan on coming, register for a (completely free) ticket here so they have your name on the guest list. Just print off the e-mail they send you and bring that to the event, and it should all be good.

http://levelupshowcase.eventbrite.com/

One last final hype-tease before the event: Here's the poster that a team member and I slaved over for 7 someodd hours last night. You'll see it hanging above our booth at the event if you happen to drop by:

 

[Mikel]

I would love to do it if I have the chance, but sadly... I don't live in Toronto. :(

Sorry if I can't, but I would love to check Toronto out in the future.

 

[akb778]

Man, I'd love to go up there but I can't 'cause I live nowhere near Toronto. =( Looks like a pretty cool show to go to.

 

[Shuffle]

Better idea, you come to 'merica and join a bunch of us at PAX East ;)

 

[Wombatwarlord777]

Love the style of that concept Spazzo.

 

[Spazzo]

Thanks for your feedback, everyone! A few members of my team caught wind of this page (without me even prompting them) and went over the comments together, so your responses were definitely heard all the way up.

Well, today's the day...I'll be sure to post plenty of pictures from the event when I come back! I haven't received any confirmations from anyone here that they're coming, but if you decide to surprise me, I've got a little something prepared to give back in return for taking the effort to come out and support me. I won't spoil what it is, though. ;)

Well, wish me luck!

@Shuffle: Canada > you, so come visit me instead ;D

 

[Spazzo]

Well. That was 7 hours of intense chaos. What a show!

Shame none of you guys came out and claimed my mystery surprise USB stick. Oh well, I'll just have to give it out at another function ;P

There were some mind-blowing games on display...two groups designed Kinect games, one had an iPad app going, one was using Wiimotes, some truly mindblowing work was on display from all across the GTA. A lot of the games were made in Unity, though (not to knock them or anything)....sorta made ours pale in comparison because everything -- the engine, the graphics, the models, the animations, the audio, the design, you name it -- was custom-made, and thus, we couldn't focus solely on game design. Damn OCAD students.

I've also gained a healthy selection of pokem--err, business cards from various names in the industry, some of which I've already established contact with. Networking is a wonderful thing, people! You gotta go out, promote your own work, and form business relationships!

Anywho, as promised, here's some quick and dirty shots of the event:

(she was quite a flirt)

 

[EternallyAries]

Oh man that looks so awesome Spazzo. I wish I had a chance to fly out there and see that place for my self dude. Ah well thanks for posting those awesome screen shots of this place.