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CGDC 2007 Registration is Open – graceworks

graceworks
Member

Posts: 455
From: Corvallis, Oregon, USA
Registered: 03-03-2001
[Drum roll]
Registration for the 2007 Christian Game Developers Conference is NOW OPEN! Run to:
http://cgdc.org/forms/cgdc_registration.asp

For more info, see:
http://cgdc.org/conference.asp

If you are interested in giving a speech or workshop (which could be a Q&A session), let me know at Tim AT cgdc DOT org as there are still some spots open.

We request your prayers for this conference - that it truly bless the attendees and glorify our Lord and Savior.

David Lancaster

Member

Posts: 276
From: Adelaide, Australia
Registered: 05-22-2006
Tim I just wanted to say you're awesome and you rock and thanks for all you've done with CGDC, it's breathtaking and amazing! I'm praying!
Randall
Member

Posts: 44
From: Sacramento, California, USA
Registered: 06-19-2007
I agree.

Hey Tim, let me know if you need drivers or workers there and I'll drive 600 miles north up thar. I can clean the restrooms too.

I'm that weird Intel engineer dude that sent you an e-mail from intel.com earlier this week.

lol

graceworks
Member

Posts: 455
From: Corvallis, Oregon, USA
Registered: 03-03-2001
Randall,

We'd appreciate any help you can render - but I hope the university have the restrooms covered!

Have a safe drive north.

Did you get your sabbatical yet from Intel? (Every 7 years?).

Tim

------------------
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Participate in the Parables, The Interactive Parables

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Randall
Member

Posts: 44
From: Sacramento, California, USA
Registered: 06-19-2007
Yes, every 7 years and have not used the Sabbatical yet.

Yes, the 8 week Sabbatical is a future option.

I might use it later to finish up my current project.

In my case, if it's not used by march of 2009, then it goes away.

Once eligible, an employee has to use it by a certain date, or else it goes away.

See you later,
Randall...

[This message has been edited by Randall (edited June 25, 2007).]

graceworks
Member

Posts: 455
From: Corvallis, Oregon, USA
Registered: 03-03-2001
It is not too late - get your plane, train, or automobile ticket and come enjoy some great fellowship and food (and no sales tax).

Over 50 have registered so far - you can register now at:
http://cgdc.org/forms/cgdc_registration.asp

Randall will pick you up from the airport! Or maybe Clint if he remembers his driver's license!

Please be praying for the event and for safe travel for everyone.

God bless,
Tim

------------------
Called by God. The passioned plea of a father. The journey awaits at Jarod's Journey.
Participate in the Parables, The Interactive Parables

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Mene-Mene

Member

Posts: 1398
From: Fort Wayne, IN, USA
Registered: 10-23-2006
I wish... Unfortunetly I'm a relatively busy Pre-Teen with no method of persuasion or transportation to get back to Oregon.

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MM out-
Thought travels much faster than sound, it is better to think something twice, and say it once, than to think something once, and have to say it twice.
"Frogs and Fauns! The tournament!" - Professor Winneynoodle/HanClinto

I reserve the full right to change my views/theories at any time.

Randall
Member

Posts: 44
From: Sacramento, California, USA
Registered: 06-19-2007
quote:
Originally posted by GraceWorks:

Randall will pick you up from the airport!

Absolutely!
LET'S GET IT DONE!

Hope to see everyone there!


I got my minivan ready and I even promise to clean out all of the "CAT FUR" in it. LET'S GO!

[This message has been edited by Randall (edited July 11, 2007).]

buddboy

Member

Posts: 2220
From: New Albany, Indiana, U.S.
Registered: 10-08-2004
man I wish I could go....

Man. You guys gotta have this closer to where I live next year. or I gotta be able to go some other way.

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that post was really cool ^
|
[|=D) <---|| me

graceworks
Member

Posts: 455
From: Corvallis, Oregon, USA
Registered: 03-03-2001
quote:
Originally posted by buddboy:
man I wish I could go....

Man. You guys gotta have this closer to where I live next year. or I gotta be able to go some other way.


We'll miss you!

Go ahead and organize something near you (best to get near a major airport). You could get Clint to help you and I'll give you advice. We can probably get Charlie to give you some advice as well.

I'd asked some folks to look into capture/broadcasting but don't think anyone did. The ones I found about cost several thousand - but they are professional (too bad we couldn't get hardware out of ViewCast when Tim Monk still worked there). If someone comes up with something, we'll try to get sessions shared. We have tons of tapes from past conferences - I can share some that are on DVD but many are still on tape (any volunteer videographers?).

We appreciate your prayers.
-Tim


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Called by God. The passioned plea of a father. The journey awaits at Jarod's Journey.
Participate in the Parables, The Interactive Parables

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Briant

Member

Posts: 742
From: Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada
Registered: 01-20-2001
quote:

If someone comes up with something, we'll try to get sessions shared. We have tons of tapes from past conferences - I can share some that are on DVD but many are still on tape (any volunteer videographers?).

For now, it's probably easiest and cheapest to just record stuff for later conversion to downloadables. I can convert any DVDs and old tapes to .wmv and .mp4 for smallish files for web viewing/download.

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Brian

"OOP programmers have a lot of class"

Check out this webhost! Fantastic prices, features and support!

Mene-Mene

Member

Posts: 1398
From: Fort Wayne, IN, USA
Registered: 10-23-2006
BuddBoy: I'm with you, i"m in Indiana. I've been in Portland before, as I used to live in Medford. My parents probably wouldn't like me meeting someone off the net though, maybe we could have something like a conference over the 'net.

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MM out-
Thought travels much faster than sound, it is better to think something twice, and say it once, than to think something once, and have to say it twice.
"Frogs and Fauns! The tournament!" - Professor Winneynoodle/HanClinto

I reserve the full right to change my views/theories at any time.

Tonnyx

Member

Posts: 140
From: Indiana, USA
Registered: 08-02-2005
We're here!
After an uneventful flight out of Fort Wayne, we have arrived at Concordia. I am unpacking, and I think Clint is going to go pick some people up from the airport.

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it's pronounced "tonics"

graceworks
Member

Posts: 455
From: Corvallis, Oregon, USA
Registered: 03-03-2001
Praise God!

All right, the rest of you can just go home, the Herrons beat you there!

Please be praying for everyone's safe travel. And that God blesses us mightily.

I'll be driving up later today.

-Tim

------------------
Called by God. The passioned plea of a father. The journey awaits at Jarod's Journey.
Participate in the Parables, The Interactive Parables

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Realm Master

Member

Posts: 1971
From: USA
Registered: 05-15-2005
Where and when is it?

I'd love to go and be there!

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yeah, im a little crazy
Check out my crazy sig that I made:


graceworks
Member

Posts: 455
From: Corvallis, Oregon, USA
Registered: 03-03-2001
It starts tomorrow, Thursday July 19 and runs through Saturday the 21st. Portland, Oregon (PDX airport code) - Concordia University ( http://cu-portland.edu ).

We'd love to have you there. I have no idea where you are located though.

God bless,
Tim

quote:
Originally posted by Realm Master:
Where and when is it?

I'd love to go and be there!


------------------
Called by God. The passioned plea of a father. The journey awaits at Jarod's Journey.
Participate in the Parables, The Interactive Parables

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Realm Master

Member

Posts: 1971
From: USA
Registered: 05-15-2005
Atch... tomorrow...

no freaking way I could get up to Oregon by tomorrow... (Live in Nor Cal, by San Fransisco)

tood bad...
dang...
I've got to check on theses things sooner...
Next year I can drive, and probably get sooner notice...

and by then I belive I will have taken a few classes in modelling and game Design.

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yeah, im a little crazy
Check out my crazy sig that I made:


ArchAngel

Member

Posts: 3450
From: SV, CA, USA
Registered: 01-29-2002
haha, Silicon Valley, too, RM.
hmmm... little over 600 miles.
at my speed... 6 hours should do it.
gotta account for traffic, you know.

unfortunately, I'm too busy to hit CGDC. well, some other time.

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"The generation of random numbers is too important to leave to chance."
Soterion Studios

Lazarus

Member

Posts: 1668
From: USA
Registered: 06-06-2006
quote:
Originally posted by ArchAngel:

hmmm... little over 600 miles.
at my speed... 6 hours should do it.

I think you're forgetting the numerous police chases this trip would involve, travelling at 100MPH... it'd probably take at least ten hours because you'd be taking dirt roads half the time to evade the cops.

ArchAngel

Member

Posts: 3450
From: SV, CA, USA
Registered: 01-29-2002
what are you talking about? I'll have a police escort

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"The generation of random numbers is too important to leave to chance."
Soterion Studios

graceworks
Member

Posts: 455
From: Corvallis, Oregon, USA
Registered: 03-03-2001
Listening to Peter Churness' talk right now - he is one of the Rebel Planet founders. Some cool stuff going on. See
http://TheRebelPlanet.com
http://RebelPlanetCreations.com

David - keep up the good work brother!

Tim

------------------
Called by God. The passioned plea of a father. The journey awaits at Jarod's Journey.
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Tonnyx

Member

Posts: 140
From: Indiana, USA
Registered: 08-02-2005
Ha! I see you with your laptop over there, Tim!

But yes, Peter's giving a great talk right now.

Last night, Clint and others had a great conversation, trying to hammer out some of the assumptions and problems that we run into when trying to think about Christians making games. It really helps to start out with the separation among Evangelistic games (Category I), Discipleship-oriented games (Category II), and other fun games (secular games can fit here) (Category III). And they agreed that Evangelism-focused games have to, by their very nature, look very different from Discipleship-oriented games. It stops some absurd discussions pretty quickly. E.g., "What I'm working on is a side-scroller that does this, this, and that." And of course there's the inevitable person who says, "Now wait a minute. Where's the gospel?" And you can quickly respond, "Well, you see, I'm making a Category II game, not a Category I game."

Peter is talking about perhaps yet another category, one that is pre-evangelistic. Francis Schaeffer talks a lot about this, and it's not easy, but it is important. Modern non-Christians have such a different set of assumptions that you have to spend a lot of time just making sure that you speak the same language. And that's so important. If you just jump into a conversation with "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life", that's fairly meaningless as a starting point these days.

Now we're starting a Panel discussion on QA & Testing.

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"tonics"

[This message has been edited by tonnyx (edited July 19, 2007).]

jestermax

Member

Posts: 1064
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: 06-21-2006
There should be a podcast for all of this; both CGDC stuff and clint stuff :P
I can't be there but i want in on this stuff

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Visit my portfolio (and check out my projects):
www.JestermaxStudios.com

Matt Langley
Member

Posts: 247
From: Eugene, OR, USA
Registered: 08-31-2006
I really wanted to make it to CGDC, unfortunately things came up at work right at this time so it won't happen... hope you all have a great time and see you next year

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Matthew Langley
Lead Documentation Engineer
GarageGames

graceworks
Member

Posts: 455
From: Corvallis, Oregon, USA
Registered: 03-03-2001
Thanks to Clint for moderating - I put him on the spot.

The q/a panel was great!

Brother Bill Bean is talking now - good encouragement.

We have a GoSream on loan - need to get it set up.

Tim

------------------
Called by God. The passioned plea of a father. The journey awaits at Jarod's Journey.
Participate in the Parables, The Interactive Parables

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graceworks
Member

Posts: 455
From: Corvallis, Oregon, USA
Registered: 03-03-2001
quote:
Originally posted by Matt Langley:
I really wanted to make it to CGDC, unfortunately things came up at work right at this time so it won't happen... hope you all have a great time and see you next year


Matt - we wanted a Torque session out of you - can we reserve you for next year?

Did you go to Japan too?

God bless,
Tim

------------------
Called by God. The passioned plea of a father. The journey awaits at Jarod's Journey.
Participate in the Parables, The Interactive Parables

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Tonnyx

Member

Posts: 140
From: Indiana, USA
Registered: 08-02-2005
Here's what I posted on gameace about Willy H.'s talk about games for youth:

It was a good talk; he basically wanted to communicate to us as game developers what he as an experienced youth leader is looking for in games.

I thought he was right on in terms of his aspirations - that good youth ministry doesn't isolate itself from the rest of the church; in fact a good youth ministry plugs the youth into the church as a whole. It connects youth with adults. Good games should be able to do the same. He used the Wii as a great example of this-- games that are fun and easy enough for just about anybody to pick up and have a good time together.

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it's pronounced "tonics"

SSquared

Member

Posts: 654
From: Pacific Northwest
Registered: 03-22-2005
quote:
Originally posted by tonnyx:
Now we're starting a Panel discussion on QA & Testing.

Nice. Had I gone this year I was thinking of doing a workshop on this topic. I think I mentioned it over on that Publisher's thread (and to others in e-mail). Hope it went well and some good, hard-hitting topics were covered.

I had thought I may drive up for Saturday to see everyone, but this Saturday is a yearly Kid's event in the city and we have a special event at church at night. Otherwise, I probably would have come up with the family and they could play/stay at a friend's house.

graceworks
Member

Posts: 455
From: Corvallis, Oregon, USA
Registered: 03-03-2001
quote:
Originally posted by ssquared:

I had thought I may drive up for Saturday to see everyone, but this Saturday is a yearly Kid's event in the city and we have a special event at church at night. Otherwise, I probably would have come up with the family and they could play/stay at a friend's house.

We missed you!

FYI, I sent a package back with Tall Steve ( :-) ) for you.

Thanks for your help - I haven't had a chance to dig into the code you sent. Sorry.

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Called by God. The passioned plea of a father. The journey awaits at Jarod's Journey.
Participate in the Parables, The Interactive Parables

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Tonnyx

Member

Posts: 140
From: Indiana, USA
Registered: 08-02-2005
Jay Moore, formerly of Garage Games, gave a great talk this morning.

I thought he had a good understanding of the way a Christian view of the world and "secular" business principles interact.

A couple of the things I remember him saying included the following:
-When you get a team of developers to work on a game, even if they are all experienced with what they do, they have got to work on a *small* game together. By small, he means something that can be finished in one year or less. No exceptions. You should *never* do a multi-year project for your first attempt. Do something you know you can get done quickly. Your team needs it in order to learn to work together and become more efficient at what they do.

-If you think you get this great idea from God about making a great game, you cannot assume that everything is going to go smoothly, and that you're going to magically get this game done the way you think you will.

There were other good things he talked about, but those are the main ones that occur to me right now. Right now, I'm sitting in a talk about sound & music for games.

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"tonics"

[This message has been edited by tonnyx (edited July 21, 2007).]

graceworks
Member

Posts: 455
From: Corvallis, Oregon, USA
Registered: 03-03-2001
quote:
Originally posted by tonnyx:
Jay Moore of Garage Games gave a great talk this morning.

Just a slight correction Jen - Jay has left GG and has started up http://thestrategerygroup.com

I missed this talk thanks to the board meeting! I hope the tape turns out!

------------------
Called by God. The passioned plea of a father. The journey awaits at Jarod's Journey.
Participate in the Parables, The Interactive Parables

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Tonnyx

Member

Posts: 140
From: Indiana, USA
Registered: 08-02-2005
Thanks for the correction, Tim! I'll edit it.

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"tonics"

Tonnyx

Member

Posts: 140
From: Indiana, USA
Registered: 08-02-2005
So, Clint and I are sitting in the Portland airport. It was quite a good conference. The college that we had it at was really nice - the Expo room was in the lounge of the dorms we stayed in, so we could stay up and hang out with people as late as we wanted. There was wireless internet throughout the dorms and classrooms, as well as plugs in the bedrooms.

We noticed that this year, people overall seemed to have been thinking more about what they're doing, and how. I can't attribute it to any particular cause; it just seemed that a lot of people were not quite as overly ambitious as I've seen them in past years. The attitude among people seemed overall more thoughtful. Not that people have necessary changed what they're doing, especially some of the companies that have more momentum built up already, but the attitude seemed humbler. Also, fewer people seemed completely bent on evangelistic games being the only valid kind of games for Christians to make. Two of the presenters were people working in the secular games industry on purpose, and had good things to say about that.

Clint got to help Jon C. with creating some graphics for his project, which was really cool. He also stayed up really late with a few other guys brainstorming and hashing out some ideas.

A number of the usual attendees weren't there this time, for various reasons. One of the absent parties was Left Behind, which was too bad. I would have liked to hear them talk about some of the things that were in their annual report that came out this past week . Interesting reading.

I had a great time playing with C.M.'s kids, some of whom came with him to the conference. As always, there were great snacks and good food, and good fun with friends. It's a lot of fun seeing the same people each year.

Well, our flight's boarding now.

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"tonics"

Randall
Member

Posts: 44
From: Sacramento, California, USA
Registered: 06-19-2007
quote:
Also, fewer people seemed completely bent on evangelistic games being the only valid kind of games for Christians to make.

Yes, but except for me.

But seriously though, the gospel has the power to change lives and it is still a valid thought process.

But, like I told Peter, not every game needs John 3:16. lol
Gosh, I think I'm just as popular there at CGDC, just like my popularity here is at christiancoders.com HAHA!

Oh well, God knows my heart and you guys do not... No problemo amigos

[This message has been edited by Randall (edited July 22, 2007).]

Jari

Member

Posts: 1471
From: Helsinki, Finland
Registered: 03-11-2005
quote:
Originally posted by tonnyx:

Last night, Clint and others had a great conversation, trying to hammer out some of the assumptions and problems that we run into when trying to think about Christians making games. It really helps to start out with the separation among Evangelistic games (Category I), Discipleship-oriented games (Category II), and other fun games (secular games can fit here) (Category III). And they agreed that Evangelism-focused games have to, by their very nature, look very different from Discipleship-oriented games.

That's interesting discussion. But what about all three types as one? Or at least the first two as one.
Hmm I wonder did I understand this correctly, did you mean that the "games have to" look very different for what reason, exactly?
And I also have to ask, is edifying same as the category 2? (Discipleship-oriented)

I too like to know what every one is talking about (hehe).

Almost forgot... thanks for your post!

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Psa 32:5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

[VoHW] (Help needed) [Blog] (Contact) - Truedisciple (mp3)

Cohort X

Member

Posts: 126
From: The Great Pacific Northwest
Registered: 09-16-2006
I'd say that trying to combine category one and two would make for a game that wouldn't evangelize or edify well.

"12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."
-Hebrews 5:12-14

A game that simply teaches the basic tenants will only help to stagnate a believer's walk; while if the game goes more in depth it's not likely to be a very good tool for evangelizing to those who don't have a grasp on the basic precepts yet.

If you were going to combine two categories to make a game then 1 and 3 would be better suited, since non-christians will not pick up a game that beats them over the head with christianity before they can even get close enough to read the words on the box.

Jari

Member

Posts: 1471
From: Helsinki, Finland
Registered: 03-11-2005
Hmm if its stricly lesson based then that could be the case. But preaching of the cross and then going little further from that could be one way. It's similar to the fact that some non-believers have read Bible and say that the teachings (morale) of Jesus is good, while believers can read the same and edify.

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Psa 32:5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

[VoHW] (Help needed) [Blog] (Contact) - Truedisciple (mp3)

Tonnyx

Member

Posts: 140
From: Indiana, USA
Registered: 08-02-2005
quote:
Originally posted by Randall:
[QUOTE]Also, fewer people seemed completely bent on evangelistic games being the only valid kind of games for Christians to make.


Yes, but except for me.
[/QUOTE]

Hey, Randall! It's too bad you had to leave before Saturday. We didn't get around to taking our CCN picture until Saturday evening at dinner. We'll get the picture posted sometime. Brandon left earlier, too, unfortunately.

Anyway, I didn't mean to slam on people who want their games to present the gospel; it's just that, having been to the conference for a few years, I start to see different patterns. One pattern is that you get some people who have arrived at the idea that the only thing in life worth putting any effort into is evangelism, and suddenly they got this brilliant idea to evangelize through games, etc., etc. Typically, their game ideas/prototypes are neither games (i.e., they are not fun, which is core to being called a "game"), nor do they present the gospel very well (often with incredibly flawed theology). So, while they have good intentions, they totally miss their own target. They generally don't come more than once.

There are those who are interested in presenting the gospel *and* making a fun game. I honestly haven't seen a finished product that accomplishes both, but I'm not slamming it as a valid aspiration.

One of the problems that evangelistically-minded game developers tend to have, is that it seems to me that they don't look at their game through the eyes of a non-Christian. A Christian might look at their game and understand the point immediately; but that's not the goal. The goal is for a non-Christian to a) be engaged long enough to hear the message (i.e., have fun); b) for the message to be conveyed in a clear and understandable way to someone who doesn't yet understand.

Personally, I think that games may have more use as pre-evangelism, and I do believe that pre-evangelism is a worthwhile, and dare I say incredibly important pursuit, since the world's culture is drifting further and further from even a basic understanding of what God's creation is like.

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"tonics"

Tonnyx

Member

Posts: 140
From: Indiana, USA
Registered: 08-02-2005
quote:
Originally posted by jari:
Hmm I wonder did I understand this correctly, did you mean that the "games have to" look very different for what reason, exactly?

Hey, Jari!

The main reason I think that games "have to" look different due to what they are trying to accomplish is simply because the way I talk to a non-Christian is quite different from the way I might talk to a Christian; I would even talk differently to a young Christian than I would to a mature Christian. So while, we're obviously not going to make different games for each individual person, but still, different people have different needs.

Also, things that appeal to Christians often don't appeal to non-Christians. Frequently, they don't. I'm not advocating full-scale marketing techniques; I am quite frustrated when people feel like they have to "market" Christianity in a way that doesn't act as though Christianity stands on its own as absolute truth.

But yeah, anyway, all this to say that if a person's going to make a game, it had better be a game after all.

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"tonics"

Jari

Member

Posts: 1471
From: Helsinki, Finland
Registered: 03-11-2005
Hi tonnyx.

quote:
Originally posted by tonnyx:

The main reason I think that games "have to" look different due to what they are trying to accomplish is simply because the way I talk to a non-Christian is quite different from the way I might talk to a Christian; I would even talk differently to a young Christian than I would to a mature Christian. So while, we're obviously not going to make different games for each individual person, but still, different people have different needs.

Good point, I understand now. Making one game to suite for all levels of Christian maturity (I hope this makes sense?) is indeed not easy.

I understand your frustration when some tries to market truth. I don't like it either and try to avoid it. The effort and idea to spread the truth is good but may not be according to God's will because after all He gave us the evangelium to take it forward, but His Holy spirit of truth is who saves people.
I need to remember this verse to avoid such marketing:
(2Co 4:2) But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.

But may God give us the wisdom and understanding to His word and ability to deliver the Gospel.
In Jesus name.

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Psa 32:5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

[VoHW] (Help needed) [Blog] (Contact) - Truedisciple (mp3)

[This message has been edited by jari (edited July 24, 2007).]