I have started teaching Gamemaker classes at a conference I go to every year and it got me thinking, wouldn't it be cool to have a conference just for Gamemaker? I think it would be a good way to meet others interested in game design and to meet people from the GMC.

So my questions for you all:

Could this work?
What kinds of workshops/classes could we have?
What would you want to see at a conference like this?
Would you attend a Gamemaker conference? Would you travel to attend if you had too?
How many of you would volunteer or run a workshop at the conference? It is a lot of work to run a conference and we would have to get a lot of people to help.

Of course it wouldn't work.

Conference Centres are expensive.

Conferences need money to run, they make money by advertisers, renting space to vendors, charging attendance.

It would cost the majority of the GMC members hundreds of dollars in air fair, hotel and attendance.

But hey if you think that you can convince a bunch of kids who scream because they might have to pay $10-$25 for the next GM upgrade, to spend hundreds or maybe thousands to listen to some other kids talk about Catch the Clown and impossible GM MMORPGs then you go right ahead.

Its a great idea but seems a bit too much for something as casual as game maker.
@NPT - The people who DO actually come and run workshops and stuff would most likely be the people who actually take this stuff seriously and make it good, thereby increasing the overall quality level way over that of gmc.

Funny how you completely skirted the money issue.

Address that.

Yes I know conference centers are expensive, that is why I'm posting here to see if theres even an interest.

Buying software is different from going to conferences. Parents will typically make the kids pay for the software, which causes them to whine and complain about it. Going to a conference would be more of a vacation, which parents don't usually make their kids pay for.

With any luck, FredFredrickson will sponsor it. I wouldn't count on it, though.

Parents pay for family vacations, they go to Disney. They don't put junior on a plane, put him in a hotel for a weekend at a conference centre.

Keynote speakers are almost always heavily rewarded. The rewards range from huge fees, to indirect benefit of product exposure.

Conferences are a business, they are almost always addressed at a corporate audience or audience with a lot of money to spend. Technical conferences are almost always expensed.



Maybe KC LC can set up a booth selling acorn squash muffins and pumpkin pie.

No use having a conference with only 3 people attending.


Game Maker is a hobbyist program, commonly used by children from 8-16. If a kid's parents have a problem with spending $20/25 on a piece of software, they'll certainly have a problem paying airfare, housing, and meals.
Most people just use it as a hobby, you know, for fun. Although there are people out there that use it as a significant source of revenue, I believe I have more fingers, than there are of them.

why not just set up a website to cover the things you would at this conference? I believe someone tried this idea before, not sure how it went.

I completely agree with NPT. No one is going to spend hundreds of dollars to go to a conference where people talk about pacman clones and other crappy games.

I know a few GMC members personaly who could easily fund a large and publicised conferance
and they do, but for propper issues relevent to us and the world
Gamer conventions are desperate enough, game makers are generaly nerds to a nerds comparison...
I have atended a few game development conferances and competitions, but the only apeal is for wide scope scoops of indie developers, with recruitment and ad parties sent out from big game corps to do features and sponsor.
a Pure game maker (as in, gm7) conferance will not work.

Indie games finally got a spot at the GDC, it would be nice to see more game maker stuff there. Of course, there is not enough GM people to actually come and show stunning gm games to give GM a spot (even less a full conference), but it's already great how Cactus got to do a GM presentation at the GDC, (possibly the best conference I ever seen.)

Also, there isnt so much things to talk about specific to GM. I mean, what are the subjects? GMC's hot topics? hmm...

I would still be very excited about that kind of event though, but I wouldn't travel that far to assist it.

I would buy the acorn muffins.

I'll buy 20~!

Anyway, on a less smile infested note, I don't think it would work. Not everybody has the time or the money - and if you havn't noticed alot of GM's userbase is young people. For example, I'm not disclosing any names, but one of the best GML programmers [I have seen] on the whole GMC is 16 and just signed of MSN to sleep so he could attend school tomorrow. Now moving away from younger people, who are you left with - people busy with jobs, staff. I myself am in the same position, except regretfully younger and unable to afford a conference like this even if one was hosted.

Regards,
-Schyler-

This idea has been around for some time, and just like always, it gets rejected and ignored. To be honest, it's quite an impossible task: setting up a conference even in a hotel ballroom for a program which has its base user set in their teens. I remember a few years back, shortly after YoYo purchased Game Maker, there was a pinned topic in a forum discussing the idea, as well as possible event locations and the like. While the idea may sound great, and if it was actually pulled off I'd be sure to attend, the difficulties of creating such a conference would be staggering.

You need to analyze the cost, first off. As I said, even a hotel ballroom runs into the thousands of dollars, and if you decide to have it for multiple days, you're going to be deep in the red. You then need to find vendors (whether it be indie game developers, professional software to develop music, artwork, etc.) to fill the space, and even then you would need to get them to pay for their floor space. Then you need to take into account the cost for those who wish to visit the convention. Airfare, board, food, as well as the entry ticket into the conference are all factors that need to be analyzed.

In order for it to be even remotely possible, you would need to pick a city that is easy to get to, offers a wide range of accommodations, etc. That being said, good luck organizing such an event.

I'm not kidding, but there's a chance that we could seriously convince GDC to take some interest into our "buisness" and see if they'll give it a chance in some way. No doubt, they would never make it a conference of it's own. They'd have to make a small portion of the actual GDC for Game Maker, allowing anyone 13 or over to attend. It would be nice if they also allowed teenagers to have special seats at the big stage display (where they show things like the Unreal Engine, and forth coming video games).

Even if this whole thing is impossible, let's have a little fun and plan on who might be good candidates as speakers.

- Mark Overmars and Sandy Duncan (Overall Game Maker)
- Phantom 107 (usage of 3D mode vs U3D)
- FredFredrickson (Art, Graphics, and Particle effects)
- Fede-lasse and Icuurd (AI)
- Icuurd (Importing and Converting Meshs/Models)
- Tepi and GearGOD (Environment Mapping and other Advanced Effects)
- FredFredrickson (Online Networking)

I'm still thinking of more .

although the idea isn't really feasible, some of you (NPT...) are taking it a little seriously. it was only an idea, after all.

if we were to have a GM conference, where would it be held? The US? The Netherlands? The UK, home of YoYo games?

I think you should have said you were kidding. There isn't a lot to discuss with game maker to add a small section dedicated to it and besides Game Maker and the games created with it fall under the indie games category (for people who don't know, indie games are games made by one or a small group of people without things like big budget companies and an army of programmers and stuff).

Now I don't have much to add since almost everyone seems to be repeating what's already been said. Game Maker is a hobbyist program as said or a stepping stone on the way to game development. But even if there was one would it be worth it to go? The only appeal I can think of is seeing some people who are well known here in real life.

A few years ago Mark Overmars and Arno Kamphuis held a masterclass at the University of Utrecht. I'm not sure if this still runs. You can read about it on Simon Donker's website.

As stated previously, the complexities involved with creating a conference (such as money, language and distance) would probably be a bit too large to overcome. It's plausible, but I don't think it's going to happen anytime soon.

Okay, I changed my mind. Game Maker is a hobyist program and we should all run away and learn C++ or BASIC. But no! I know that it has more potential than just the shareware industry. It may not exactly be Game Maker that hits the nail, but it's opening doors even more grand than what technicians in the big time video game industry are achieving . You wouldn't believe it.

Well, its a really nice thought, but i could never ever see one happening, unless someone like Mark Ovewrmars sponsored it or something, then it might work. But yeah, it is a good idea,

Unless by sponsor you mean Mark Overmars will pay for everyone to get to and from the conference then their is no way this is going to happen:

1. People will not be able to afford it because as I said above, if someone like Mark isn't paying, then the GM users who can barely afford $15 for GM (as NPT said) wouldn't be able to go.
2. Most parents (Most GM users are under 18/21/Legal age) wouldn't let their kid fly somewhere across the world for some unknown conference, and most parents wouldn't want to pay for them self's to go as well (Not to mention they will be very bored).

The list goes on....

Funny mention, I might have been talking about one of those people earlier.

Anyway, if we are just being optimistic, why don't I get to do the networking part o-o. I've got arms in almost every GM MMO that actually has a userbase.

Also, have you seen Phantom107's new Portal project? Very cool. It precaptures the world to giant surfaces and the whole game actually looks as good as a Studio 15 HD Movie Render.

-Schyler-

There is a lot of flaming in this topic.. let me add some trees so we can have a forest fire


As for my opinion I would only go to this conference if it was going to be cheap enough, in other words it was near me. I somehow doubt your gunna be having a conference in rural Australia

EDIT @Schyler: I probably live next door to you (Not possible)

EDIT @Desert Dog: Uh uh um uhhhhhh! Ummmm.... THIS FIRE!!!!

Poor trees...

If it did happen, an unlikely chance though, I wish it was in rural Australia. I live there.

Make the conference an online one, maybe create a GM server/client program specifically for the conference. The ability for everyone to download the client and join the conference whereby everyone can just brainstorm ideas or go from "booth to booth" (channel to channel) where the owner talks about their toys. You could then have an hourly "speaker" about new technologies, maybe Mark himself, who knows....this would peak even my interest.

BUT If it's a real life conference, it's not gonna happen.

That would be so cool. Excellent idea.

What flaming? (on a side note, nice trees)

We could have online "booths" where people share GM tutorials, and other areas where people discuss their latest GM game, or even their unfinished projects.

And we could have an area for folks to get help with graphics and sounds. Maybe even an audience-participation room to discuss various aspects of game design. Oh... and we should also have a bulletin board so members can post notes looking for teammates.

And of course we need an area for people to discuss community issues and GM-related stuff.

But how would an online conference be different from the gamemaker community?

Well, it would be more of an open "Messenger"-like conversation.

With a chatroom-based conference, questions could be answered immediately and followed up easily. The only problems would be a risk of idiots flooding it, and getting chat software good enough for such a conference would be damn expensive - from personal experience, finding genuinely good chatroom software for free holds the same success rate as trying to fly by flapping your arms up and down.

I'd suggest Second Life as a way of doing a "virtual conference", but SL is... yeuch.

That is the whole point. The GMC serves the purpose.

The key reason this seems like a cool idea to people is because they think meeting people you interact with online (from the GMC) in real life is cool. Well no, it isn't. I've met with one GMC user who happened to live ten minutes from me. It wasn't awkward, just... normal. >_>

A lot of the conferences (I'm speaking strictly of academic conferences) are usually centered around a smaller geographical region (ie: Midwest Council of Churches, American Society of Civil Engineers). Game Maker's audience is scattered all around the world. Mark Overmars is in the Netherlands. YoYoGames is based in England. The plurality of GMC users are in the United States. Which country do we choose? Either way, we screw a great deal of people. Getting a visa to visit the country itself is enough of a deterrent to stop me from visiting a GM conference in say, England.

And how productive will these conferences be? Not very, I don't think. Conferences are used to show off the biggest discovery/innovation. What's the biggest GM innovation? Who chooses? Who gets to make the agenda, organize everything, etc?

The most practical idea is this: just having "GM socials", where GM users within a 30 mile radius just hang out. Maybe do some programming and discuss Game Maker stuff. Once a week/month, they bring their laptops to Panera Bread, Starbucks, etc... show off their code, ask for comments, and have fun. But how many GM users have cars? Or are able to convince their parents that they should go ("Hey, I'm gonna meet with somebody I met online!")?

Funny story about meeting people from the internet, actually... Anyway, while this idea may sound nice, it's very difficult and, to be honest, quite awkward. Unless you know the user(s) very well, you could end up meeting a weird, creepy guy in his 40's, or worse, a creepy gamer and game developer from California (Fred, I'm looking at you).

In any sense, a larger convention is less awkward and weird than a smaller meet up. Yes, it has it's problems, but the removal of the intimate (odd word choice, I know) would probably help make users more social and productive.

Take a look at This. Most people would have maybe 10 people maximum in their 30 mile radius. Personally, Their is only one person in my 30 mile radius...

Your probably thinking that the link above doesn't have accurate results, because not everyone participates on "Where in the world", but not everyone is going to participate in this "GM socials" thing.


I agree with KC LC. An online conference would be the best. Maybe a website with different booths and live webcams or something. Its been tried before and has failed, but maybe someone can do it right.

@Revel:
wow cool site, i didnt know about that O.O

anyways..the closest person to me is FlipBee9, and he lives in Jacksonville, and I live in miami...thats like 100s of miles apart so i doubt i'll be going to any conference anytime soon.

@NPT:
money shouldn't be an issue, if your parents actually care about your hobbies they might let you go, but if you live in california and the conference is in NYC(thank you borat ) then theres no way you'll be able to go. but the people who actually do goto conferences are probably adults or kids who want to go and brag about their age with hopes of getting "discovered".
and besides, the lessons that you would teach in the conference could probably be found online for free, so the conference WOULD be a bad idea, but not because of the money.

it would be smarter to just have an online conference on like an IRC channel or something like that. no need to spend thousands of dollars to do something that can be done online for free

That would be the most practical idea.

But I've got a question. It's a really good question... Here it comes...

*Drums*

That's a cool site. I just found out that Takagi is pretty much my neighbor... lol.

@ Takagi: I'm in Maryland Heights (corner of 70 and 270)... Howdy neighbor!

That's precious.

Revel, read my post again and tell me if it sounds familiar. Ever been to a place like that before?

How about a virtual conference? That way everyone stays at home. You can even attend in your underwear...

Haha, How could I have missed that . Good one

Maybe we could ask YYGs to host it and give it a name.

I suggest GameMakerConferance.yoyogames.com. Wait, that's to long to type, let's shorten it to GMC.yoyogames.com instead

EDIT: Holy crap, the domain's in place. Man they're fast.

Yeah, I agree with that, but I was suggesting this is a possible alternative to the idea of a conference to meet with Game Makers in real life.
Yeah, but as mentioned, this was just an alternative to the "conference" for those who *really* want to try this "meeting IRL" thing. I personally would just like to meet with the GMC'ers for strictly non-GM reasons ("let's watch a movie!") because the community as a whole has the same general set of interests.

That's the purpose of conferences, right? To network. Meet with people, talk to them about *stuff* and then make professional contacts. The GMC does a perfect job of that, and making "real life" encounters pretty much redundant.

Most of us want to setup a virtual conference. The question is who will set it up, and when will it happen? We've got to make things happen and stop discussing it. A lot of times people say "YoYo Games could do it," but if you just expect them then it probably won't happen. You atleast need to e-mail Sandy, or you Twitter people could talk to him about it.

If YoYo Games doesn't want to do it, well, I guess we could start by having people post whether or not they have PHP, Ajax, or CSS skills. After then we could throw some one incharge (some one who has good insight in what other GMC members are doing) and get them to find the speakers and manage the domain builders as a team.

Edit: small word change.

*pouts* not fair! I came up with the idea first KCLC just expanded on it.

But it's cool, I'm going to expand a little bit more.

The "speaker" or owner of the "booth" will have control over chat channel. I imagine that you enter a channel and you pop up on a list while being able to hear the owner speak about whatever topic he wants. Now if I have a particular question, I just type in my question and hit "submit". The owner sees a textbox of all the asked questions and at any point in his choosing can answer them (clicking on the message will autosubmit it to everyone so they can all see what the question is).

Here's an example:



The main reason I see differently is we can see pictures or maps of the design, flowcharts, whatever else without the need to draw a dubbed down version and upload it to imageshack. Most of us do our designs on paper (at least I do), but not all of us have a scanner (I don't). The other reason is maybe unveiling prototype gameplay, you can get a sneakpeak of realtime video of the game without the creator sparkling it up for youtube.

And the obvious reason of bringing people together, meeting our online colleagues/friends in real conversations.

She was joking, go back and read her post a little more carefully.

We don't need a "virtual conference", we already have a forum that accomplishes anything that a chatroom would, in a much more organized format.

However, if someone was to go out and set this up, perhaps an IRC server would suffice.

@ sabriath
So should the virtual system be an actual downloadable client made in Game Maker (connecting with a server/booth program that the speakers use). I was thinking that it could be built into a webpage. What would be best?

This pretty much sums up this idea.

If someone wants to do this there's TONS of planning, organization, advertising, and months of "site construction" required to make this work. You can't do that from this topic. It's not practical.

So let's not start discussing details about client/server organization, and chat room format here.

There was an online class you could take a few years ago, but I don't think its up anymore.

Erm... I understand some of the motives here, but I really fail to understand the fundamental idea of that system.

Is it because you want to:

• see how the people in the GMC look like / act in person
• have an offtopic conversation with the GMC people
• have a real-time conversation with the GMC people
• have a good time with guys who have GM in common
• strenghten your relationships to the GMC people into a more real-life level ?

I'm not against this idea, but I don't approve it either, until I know it's going to work. So far it seems a lot like a daydream.