How to write Game Concept and Proposal Documents

Q: Game development competitions, assignments, Final Year Projects - what do they have in common?

A: Requirement(s) to submit proper documentation.

Proper planning is crucial to success in any project, more so for creative projects such as game development projects, where a good mix of personalities including artists, programmers and designers are involved.

If you can't even put down to paper and articulate what you have in mind, how are you going to be able to implement and deliver a solid game product? Those angel investors you're looking for will need a lot more than "it's cool!" to be convinced.

Look over to Tim Ryan's article on The Anatomy of a Design Document, Part 1:Documentation Guidelines for the Game Concept and Proposal at Gamasutra. It's an older document, but still a goldie.

Note: You'll need a Gamasutra account to login and read. If you haven't got one yet, get one. It's an account you'll use for a long time (if you want to last in the GD business).

What is the IGF?

Check out the prizes for this year's IGF (Independent Games Festival) at GDC 2007 site.

"Independent Games Festival was established in 1998 to encourage innovation in game development and to recognize the best independent game developers.

Just as the Sundance Film Festival benefits the independent film community, the IGF creates a similar event for independent game developers in addition to the student population of game developers. The competition culminates at the GDC where winners are announced and over $50,000 worth in prizes awarded."

The IGF's Student Showcase highlighted a total of ten games this year with each IGF Student Showcase Winner awarded US$500. In addition, a prize for best overall IGF Student Game was awarded as part of the IGF Awards, with the finalists comprising all of the Student Showcase winners. Best Student Game took an additional US$2,500.

... and before Gears of War there was...

Those doing INGD (Introduction to 2D Game Development) might be interested in The Video Game Revolution. The site provides an interactive view of the history of video games.

I still don't know who says "@!#?@!" when he is hit by something though...

[Edit] 'twas Q*bert!

101 Free Games to play

... and these are innovative, fun games that were made from scratch (mostly). The list includes N, Warning Forever, amongst many others.

Check out the article at 1up.com. Here be ideas and inspiration for your INGD, IGRA, FYP assignments/projects. :)

Games Convention Asia 2007

"The GCA (Games Convention Asia) is the only Convention in Singapore and Asia-Pacific region for the entire interactive entertainment, infotainment, edutainment, hardware and technology. Besides showcasing the latest in computer games and hardware, it will also feature entertaining information, media education and dazzling events for the general public.
As the only exhibition in the region, the GCA will reflect the trends of the rapidly expanding Asian electronic games market. According to Price WaterhouseCoopers, its turnover in 2009 will be in the order of $23 billion. The online games sector in Asia alone currently has a volume of $6.3 billion-and by 2008 looks set to reach $7.5 billion."

The event is to take place at Suntec Centre this September 6-9, Thursday thru Sunday.

How to Prototype a Game under 7 days

I was looking through my old GD related links for a module I'm developing, and noticed this link.

It's an old(er) article from Gamasutra, about a challenge issued to students to create a prototype for a game under 7 days. Mind you this are playable games with well-thought out game design and no cut-corner programming.

Download the games from the Experimental Game Project. Tower of Goo gets me laughing and stressed out all at once.

Students who are doing FYP with me this semester - no pressure there hrmm? ;)

XNA Tutorials

Here are some resources for those interested in Microsoft's DreamBuildPlay contest.

• Video Tutorials on learnxna.com.
• Video Tutorials from xnatutorial.com.
• Also check out the unofficial XNA book by Mike Fleischauer.
• If you're still hungry for more, go to the XNA Tutorial Master List on XBOX 360 Homebew.

Remember: Redmond awaits!

Keep me updated on your progress, and send me any questions you have.

Toblo Postmortem

For those of you who've downloaded and played Toblo, here's the postmortem.

A postmortem's a report, usually a reflection on the history of development, what went right and wrong, so that other teams and the development team in particular, can learn from mistakes made.

If you're making a game (whether for a school project/assignment or commercially), postmortems are essential.

Remember the old saying - "he who does not learn from mistakes is doomed to repeat them forever!"

Video game symphony PLAY! coming to Singapore

Games and arts are coming together again, this time in Singapore.

PLAY! will be performed at the Esplanade Concert Hall, June 15 to 16, 2007. Composer Takenobu Mitsuyoshi (Daytona, Virtua Fighter 2, Shenmue, Sega Rally Championship) will be performing as well.

SPH is a main sponsor. Go to their press release for more details.

Who says game consoles are for gaming only?

Another reason to convince my wife that I'm out saving the world everytime I play games. ;)

Sony is planning on utilising the ganoodles of computing power they've put on PS3s for Grid Computing applications. Maybe they can calculate where my cat lost her tinklebell last year...

Article on Gamasutra: Sony To Expand Commercial Use Of PS3

Sponsors for alvin to save the world are now being accepted.

Locked Blog

This blog has been locked and only invited viewers can access this blog.

If you're reading this, of course it means you're in, but if your friend wants in as well, have them send me an email at alvintang at sp dot edu dot sg.

IGDA Beer Meeting Wednesday, 18 April 2007

From Robin Tan's post in IGDA Singapore Forum. Closest MRT is Clarke Quay (NEL).

Just to inform you we have an upcoming informal beer meeting session at our usual favorite hunt, yes, you guessed it, Brewerkz! Do come along if you can, catch up with old friends and make new ones in the community. Just check for table booking under "IGDA" if you can't find us.

Date: 18th April 2007 (Wednesday)
Time: 7.30 pm
Venue: Brewerkz (Clark Quay MRT)

Map:

AGDS Videos Posted

Videos of some speakers have been posted on google video. Much thanks to AGDS 2006 co-organiser, Allan "Odin" Simonsen.

Links are from the Singapore IGDA forums.

IGDA Singapore Student's Chapter Meeting May 12th 2007

Student's gathering at NUS. Be there if you're a student or recent graduate in Singapore!

Date: 12th of May (Sat)

Place: NUS seminar room 1, block S16, level 3

Time: 2pm-5pm. (tentative)

More info on IGDA Forums.

DreamBuildPlay by Microsoft

Microsoft is conducting an Game Development competition, DreamBuildPlay, with a closing date of 2 July 2007.

I attended Microsoft's events at GDC and got to see the games the 4 teams built in 4 days. Quite impressive - simple but still fun.

Take a look at the following article, and follow the link to www.dreambuildplay.com and let me know if you'd like to join. I strongly encourage you to sign up for this.

I also attended MS's hands-on session for XNA Game Dev. As you might know, XNA uses C#, so if you're comfortable with Java, you should be able to start building real quick.

You can sign up for this as individuals or as a team effort. As the closing date is in July (closer than we feel), I suggest kick starting development ASAP. Think of an original game concept and start working on it for the Windows platform. If you do decide to port over to XBox 360 (which is quite simple), we can test it out using a Creator's Club license (which you don't have to get yet).