Infinite Ammo

Hello again! This is a continuation of a series of audio podcasts, featuring myself and other independent developers.

Each episode will feature a different developer, and the format will be more like a sprawling conversation than a formal interview. Topics covered will vary depending on the developer in question, but some of the same topics will pop up with many of the guests. I’ll also interject some of my own opinions and views into the discussion.

Why am I doing this? Personally, I’m very interested in how other developers work. What motivates them? How do they deal with criticism? What do they find meaningful about games? (if anything?) What are the stories behind the development of their projects? I hope to learn a lot, and also help spread more knowledge around.

Today’s episode is a discussion with game developer Chevy Ray Johnston. Chevy Ray is self-described as being “grotesquely optimistic”. I’d call him a non-stop, whirling ball of insane, creative energy. In this podcast we talk about being part time indie, reactions to Chevy’s game “Beacon”, big passion projects versus small prototypes, laugh tracks in sitcoms, voice acting, how Chevy got his start in games… and more!

Developer Name: Chevy Ray Johnston
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Website: http://chevyray.com/

You can listen to the podcast here:

Podcast Download → Episode 4 – Chevy Ray [1:46:44]

WIP RSS feed up here:
http://infiniteammo.ca/podcast.rss

Feedback Welcome!
Please post your thoughts below. Thanks!

Interested in being on the podcast? Post in the comments and let me know what you’ve been up to.

We’ve found a location for the Winnitron game jam! It’ll be held at New Media Manitoba.

A big Thank You goes out to Kert Gartner and the rest of the NMM peeps for figuring out how we could use the space.

New Media Manitoba

Location 1000 Waverley Street – Room 103
Use the back door: MAP

Dates Weekend of October 23rd
Oct 22: Friday 4:30pm – 11pm
Oct 23: Saturday 10:00am – Late
Oct 24: Sunday 10:00am – Clean Up at 11pm

You can still sign up for the jam here.

Yes, Bring!
- Laptop (conserve space)
- Good Pair of Headphones (so you can get in the zone)
- Working Workflow (engine/tools set up ‘n ready to go)
- Your Game Development Skills (code, art, design, music, etc!)

No, Do Not Bring!
- Bad Vibes
- A Huge Setup (* exceptions sometimes apply, check with us in the comments)

Not from Winnipeg?
If you’re not in Winnipeg, you can still participate online! We’ll (hopefully) be streaming the jam online, so you can check out what’s going on and send us your builds if we have time to test them.

Reminder
This jam is more about polishing up an existing idea, and testing it out on the machine. Working on brand new ideas is totally cool too, but coming in with an idea that is already up and running would be a great starting point.

Read on for the attendee list…

Hello again! This is a continuation of a series of audio podcasts, featuring myself and other independent developers.

Each episode will feature a different developer, and the format will be more like a sprawling conversation than a formal interview. Topics covered will vary depending on the developer in question, but some of the same topics will pop up with many of the guests. I’ll also interject some of my own opinions and views into the discussion.

Why am I doing this? Personally, I’m very interested in how other developers work. What motivates them? How do they deal with criticism? What do they find meaningful about games? (if anything?) What are the stories behind the development of their projects? I hope to learn a lot, and also help spread more knowledge around.

Today’s episode is a discussion with web developer and community guy, Jeff Lindsay. He’s been involved in starting/maintaining a lot of interesting projects, TIGSource.com, TIGDB, HackerDojo and more. Whenever Jeff and I get together we end up talking about subjects all over the map. This time we ended up talking about games, systems, patterns, community, subjectivity, emergence, TIGJams, startups, stupid stories and more! So come for us on a crazy ride through thought town. (or something)

G’aaah!

Developer Name: Jeff Lindsay
Location: Mountain View, California
Website: http://progrium.com/

HackerDojo Winnipeg?

I’m working with some indie developer friends to setup something like HackerDojo in Winnipeg. If you’re interested, get in touch. This would be a space to come and work with other developers, and host events like game jams and user groups for cheap. (or free) If all goes well we should have more details available soon.

You can listen to the podcast here:

Podcast Download → Episode 3 – Jeff Lindsay [2:20:57]

WIP RSS feed up here:
http://infiniteammo.ca/podcast.rss

Feedback Welcome!
Please post your thoughts below. As this is my second attempt at a podcast, I’ll be listening closely. Thanks!

Interested in being on the podcast? Post in the comments and let me know what you’ve been up to.

We’re organizing a game jam to build games for the WINNITRON!

It’ll be held on the weekend of October 23rd.

Playing the Winnitron exclusive: 4fourths, on the beta unit

Jammer List
Noel Berry
Marlon Wiebe
Liam Berry
Kert Gartner
Robin Debreuil (+family)
Vieko Franetovic
mrghosty
Tom Rab
Jordan Duchnycz
Devin Reimer
Calin Reimer
Graeme Borland

If you haven’t signed up yet, please fill out this form at the WINNITRON website.

We haven’t figured out the location yet, so stay tuned for more news about that.

We do accept games made outside of Winnipeg! Feel free to join in on the jam online, if you can’t make it in person.

Start Now!
Ideally, we’d be finishing our Winnitron games at the jam – so that we can play them on the beast, trade feedback, and polish everything up. If you have an idea, it’d be rad to start prototyping it now.

Keep in mind that the machine will have 1 joystick and 2 buttons per player. (for 1-2 players, more info on keybindings later)