NH Techfest: November 2, 2019 – Salem, NH
Join us at NH Techfest at Salem HS in Salem, NH. Info here.
Halloween Play Game Expo: October 25, 2019 – Worcester, MA
Join Playcrafting Boston for Halloween Play: Boston Game Expo taking place at Becker College on the evening of October 25. RSVP here. Free for Becker students with code.
POSTPONED Franklin M. Loew Lecture Series at Becker College: October 25, 2019 – Worcester, MA
POSTPONED – Stay tuned for more information about when this special talk with Marco Mereu, SVP, Content Marketing/Distribution & GM of Framerate at Super League will be rescheduled.
MassCUE Fall Conference: October 23, 2019 – Foxboro, MA
Thanks to Dell, hear MassDiGI Executive Director Tim Loew speak on a panel about games and esports at MassCUE’s annual fall conference at Gillette Stadium. Info about MassCUE here and about the panel here.
Mass. STEM Week: October 23, 2019 – Worcester, MA
See Yourself in STEM Game Jam
A game jam (making a game within a time limit using a prescribed set of tools) is a great way for young people of any experience level to try their hand at building a game – from coding on up. MassDiGI, working with the Becker College student game development club and a Becker College professor, is offering a 6 hour game jam for high school students, teachers and parents across the state this Mass. STEM Week.
Interested students, teachers and parents will spend their time creating a digital game from assets that the club provides using the Game Maker software engine*. This engine has a simple and intuitive workflow that students of all backgrounds will be able to easily pick up.
For those participating online there will be a dedicated communications channel with all Becker student club members so that if anyone participating online runs into any problems they can be helped promptly. The club will provide all that participate with a game jam “kit”, this will provide people with the engine along with any assets that the people may need. The theme of the game jam will be See Yourself in STEM.
And, lastly, after the conclusion of the game jam and to the extent possible, the games will be posted online for all to play.
For more information about Mass. STEM Week, please click here.
- STEM Exploration
- High school students, teachers and parents
- Wednesday, October 23, 2019 – 330p-930p
- Online (unlimited)
- In-person at MassDiGI, Becker College, Barrett Center, 80 William St., Worcester, MA (limit 16)
EforAll Summit on Inclusive Entrepreneurship: October 2, 2019 – Lowell, MA
As a Summit Community Partner, we encourage you to join us in Lowell on October 2, 2019. Use code DIGI when registering. Info here.
Here’s to one hell of a summer – 8/7/19
Here’s to one hell of a summer
By Ethan Reese, Berklee College of Music ’19
As SIP is coming to an end, everything seems a little bittersweet and surreal. After almost four months of living and working with so many amazing humans, normal life back at school will certainly be a wild change.
My favorite experience during SIP was definitely being able to work with every team here. As the sole audio representative, it is my job to make all of the music and sound effects for every game this summer. Each team had a different game that required its own style of audio which made every day full of a variety of work. It was great fun being able to record and write in so many styles and even record some of my co-workers for some of the sound effects. This was extra fun because all of the people here are incredible, not just as co-workers but also as friends.
Each day is filled with many ideas being thrown around, everyone asking for critique on their work, people learning form one another, many laughs, and (after work) maannnyyy games of Super Smash Bros.
In the beginning of this summer I was worried about being on so many teams because I was afraid that no one team would truly see me as a member; that I’d be seen as my own team. This worry quickly dissipated due to the spectacular people and I couldn’t imagine a better way to work with my fellow SIPers! However, being on so many teams was an interesting task too as I had to juggle many equally weighted responsibilities. Over the summer we all used a method called Kanban to manage tasks and track progress. Although this was great for each team individually, I found that I needed to develop my own way of keeping track of my progress on a macro level so that nothing was forgotten.
Overall, my time here at SIP has been absolutely incredible and has taught me more than I imagined I would learn about games, problem solving, collaboration, and just being a decent human being.
P.S. I second Denis and Toby. Don’t let Brandon cook steak.
BostonFIG: September 14, 2019 – Cambridge, MA
Play our games at BostonFIG! Click here for tickets.
From across the pond – 7/29/19
From across the pond
Hi, we’re Denis Gillespie and Tobias Maclure-O’Reilly from Letterkenny Institute of Technology in Ireland. We are both programmers who have just finished our final year and are taking part in the Summer Innovation Program at MassDiGI.
L-R: Denis Gillespie, John Conaghan (LYIT lecturer), Tobias Maclure-O’Reilly
We were gifted the great opportunity to participate in the programme and jumped at the chance to come to the states. So far, we have been introduced to the inner workings of a game development studio, met industry professionals, and experienced American culture. While we have been working here, we have been able to enhance our ability to work with a team of artists, programmers, and an audio designer (shout out to Ethan Reese). Over our time here so far we have met industry professionals from WB Games Boston, the Indie Game Collective, Demiurge Studios and past SIP alumni. These meetings provided us with the opportunity to learn about the industry and playtest our games, which gave us valuable feedback to further the development of our games. But it is not all work, we have also been able to enjoy national parks taking in the sights, experience our first 4th of July, American food and nightlife.
We are part of two seperate teams, Team Banoffee and Team Cherry. Banoffee consists of three artists – Amanda Saker, Ben Aube and Oriana Carletto, three programmers – Jason Gertner, Sarah Ke and myself (Denis), and the audio designer Ethan Reese. The working title of our game is Roller Riot – a mobile arcade brawler with a futuristic Roller Derby theme. Cherry is made up of three artists – Angel Ortiz , Emma Lowry , Savannah Gaspar three programmers – Griffin Beels, Sebastian Schindler, myself (Tobias) and the always busy audio designer, Ethan. We are developing a mobile endless runner about a young hero, Omar, that must save his people from the diminishing light. The game has the working title of Save the Flame! Both team Cherry and Banoffee are reaching the end of their development goals for the summer program. With the aim of a soft release this autumn.
Here’s a sneak peak of what our games currently look like:
For both of us this was our first time across the pond. It has been a once in a lifetime experience, that we are sure we will never forget.
P.S. Don’t let Brandon cook steak
Improving skillsets – 7/18/19
Improving skillsets
Hi, I’m Benjamin Aube, an Interactive Media in Game Art student from Becker College. SIP is beginning to wrap up, and I wanted to look back on how much of an impact it’s had on our skill sets. I am part of Team Banoffee as an artist and lead designer on Roller Riot. I am primarily a 3D artist, but I really wanted to improve my illustration skills this time around and agreed to make it fully 2D. And I’m so glad I made that decision because I absolutely love how our game looks and plays right now.
Team Banoffee
On the art side, my teammates Oriana Carletto and Amanda Saker and I all pitched multiple concepts and mood boards and spent a long time deciding on an art direction. We were worried that our team was falling behind, but that extra time paid off so much. We took inspiration from roller derby, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Blade Runner, and vaporwave aesthetics. I distinctly remember Amanda saying she hated the word aesthetic, and since then it has become our favorite word. In just the first week of concepting, I saw significant improvement to my art skills. I’ve learned a lot from my teammates showing off concepts to each other and asking for critiques on our assets. We all have different strengths, and so far its made for an interesting experience. We’ve all been able to teach each other things that we never would have learned otherwise.
I’ve been able to delve into animation and have been able to make rough animations for an enemy character. Amanda has been incredibly helpful through the animation process, she provided invaluable feedback on my animations and how to improve them. Oriana taught me a lot about anatomy and lining, and helped me finally figure out how to draw hands. They also helped me gain confidence in my art and taught me how to deal with impostor syndrome.I feel like I am no longer restricted to just working on 3D games, and it feels great. SIP has been an unforgettable and life changing experience for me, and I am so grateful to have been given the chance to work with such talented people. I couldn’t have asked for better teammates, I’m so proud of what we’ve accomplished and I hope to work with them again some day.
