#notGDCMI 2020 (CANCELED), and Other Michigan Game Dev meetups

UPDATE (2020-03-13): In the last 48 hours, Michigan confirmed cases of COVID-19 being present. Schools canceled classes. Events of over 100 people are generally canceled, or banned. We had updated “notGDC Michigan” to be online-inclusive, and then online-exclusive when the original location became uncertain. Finally, we regretfully canceled “notGDC Michigan” today. It won’t be held on Saturday, March 14, 2020, but will hopefully be held later this year. It’s frustrating to cancel an event only 24 hours in advance, but for the safety and interest of the local community, it was necessary. Original article remains below.

I have been making games publicly since this blog was active (over 6 years now). I had never gone to GDC, the fabled conference that developers travel to from around the world each year. I was planning to go this March in 2020, but sadly, the great migration has been canceled: epidemic fears had caused all major companies that don’t NEED to be there to back out, and on February 28, 2020, GDC was officially postponed, to some undetermined date in the summer when travel fears die down.

That was about 2 weeks before GDC was supposed to take place. In that time, developers in Michigan have rolled up their sleeves, and are running their own local mini-conference: “notGDC Michigan,” on Saturday, March 14, 2020 from 2pm – 5pm at Lawrence Technological University. You can register and find out more information here: https://notgdcmi.com/

A mini-conference on game development in Michigan (plus a couple other events that weekend).

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Bad Game Design (By Example)

I’ve released two indie games in the last year: “Drew and the Floating Labyrinth” and “Unfinished – An Artist’s Lament.” I’ve taken (and helped teach) University classes in game design. I have a large collection of games, some played and some not, but am familiar with their advances and can point out good and bad elements in each. All together, I think I have a good understanding of good practices in game design and making a fun and/or meaningful experience.

However, understanding is different from doing. While some players do appreciate my games, they have many flaws that have been pointed out. The gravity of these flaws on the overall experience would be lost on me had I not released my games to the public and received feedback. So in this post, I’ll go over some of the lessons I’ve learned in how NOT to do game design, using my games as examples. I hope this will be useful to me in the future, and I hope it provides insight to new indies and students as they build their first games.

unfinished_gameplay

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