A few IGI Awards tips

[Kristján Friðbertsson]

Great to see some groups and individuals have already started working on their ideas, even if you don't have a lot of spare time we really do recommend that you start working on your ideas straight away. If you only have a little time each week for the duration of the competition that still adds up to quite a good bit of time in total, which is difficult to match if you leave it until too late. Also, this gives you the opportunity to digest your ideas for a longer time and any problems you encounter will still have a lot of time left to be solved - not to mention that this way you can spend a good bit of time around each workshop working on the exact topic being covered.

Example for Workshop 2 (Game Design) -> if you haven't already, start looking for information online on that topic, brainstorm for ideas, use groupmembers or friends to bounce ideas off and try to consider your ideas from the various gameplay related angles to see how it will stand up to various challenges, allowing it to develop and mature nicely. This might give you more questions to ask in the Workshop Q&A session, allowing you to gain a lot more from it, as well as giving you a better understanding of the topic as it is presented. This will then give you an extra boost for the next few weeks afterwards working on that topic for your idea(s).

Top IGIA10 tips:

• Join the IGIA10 group. As well as helping you - it also helps us get a better idea of the level of interest.
• Attend all the workshops if you possibly can - this may turn out to be one of the most valuable steps for some of you during this competition. Make sure you mark your attendance to the event to help us plan it.
• Once the video recordings from the events are online, check them out - even if you were there, you may find it useful to check it out in case you understand something better or perhaps notice/remember something you didn't before. [first videos should be appearing any day now].
• Check out the starter links we have provided.
• Use the IGI website - including the IGIA10 forums, groups, blogs, etc
• Frequently check sites like Gamasutra and Game Career Guide, including their special features like the Game Design Challenges, which can help you improve your skill and come up with great new ideas. Here's one, the Sidekick challenge.
• The more work you do on your project, the more likely it is to beat the competition and teach you as much as possible about designing and creating a computer game. Don't be afraid to do a lot of different prototypes to explore all kinds of ideas before finally finding the perfect one or the perfect version of your favourite idea. One of the best ways to learn about game mechanics and game creation is to create a lot of small games to test out various types of gameplay or various ideas. Even if those are just prototypes, it helps you go through the thought process to evolve and mature your skills as you learn them.

If you are interested in working with other participants in a group, consider:

• Joining the Visual Artists Group, Programmers Group or create a new group better representing your specific skill. This can help make you more visible for those looking for that skill + give you a new opportunity to communicate with others like you.
• Check out the existing project groups that might need more people - currently at least Path to Ares but not really sure if Marens is another MMS group or a project-related group : ) perhaps someone else can shed a light on that? If you have a concept and need group members, you too can create your own group for that purpose.
• Use the IGIA10 discussion forum called I NEED PEOPLE TO JOIN MY GAME to post info about yourself and/or your group, as for instance Kjartan Akil has already done.
• Convincing some of your friends, fellow students, co-workers, family members etc to join you in this project. It can be a great thing to share.

Lastly, don't be afraid to contact us if you feel the need to do so. We would in most cases prefer the communication to take place via the groups, discussion forums etc so that everyone can benefit from the Q&A, but in some cases you might not want everyone to know the specific details involved in your question. However, keep in mind that we are very restricted in our assistance and can't really help you directly to solve any problems with your game idea etc - we can really just answer questions about IGIA10 and at best point you in the general direction, like we are doing with the "Links to get you started" etc.

[Kristján Friðbertsson]

Thanks Deepa :) always happy to see things appreciated. Trust that the rest of the peeps involved will read this thread and see your comment.

[Deepa Iyengar]

all of this is excellent work, you guys! (and useful for (ahem) novice game companies, as well)