An original indie...

[Jeremy Alessi]

I've been making games for over 10 years and was developing indie games before it was cool.  In 2003 I was part of the start-up Leadfoot Productions.  We developed Aerial Antics for the then up and coming Garage Games which was subsequently sold to IAC for a reported $50 million.  Aerial Antics was also published by Scholastic and Reflexive Entertainment (recently acquired by Amazon.com).  Aerial Antics was nominated for Sim Game of the Year by Game Tunnel, listed as a Top 5 Physics Download by Computer Gaming World, and featured on the G4 Network TV show Cinematech.

In recent years I've dabbled with a few gaming experiments from casual to simulation.  Among these experiments are MousetrapArcade.com a casual web portal, FullContactDebate.com a multiplayer political battle game, and the Games Demystified articles published by Gamasutra which can also be found through GamesDemystified.com.  One of my favorite projects that doesn't have a URL was a Virtual Reality jet pack simulator that used a Polhemus Tracker and stereoscopic HMD visuals.

I work out of Norfolk, VA usually with remote contractors because there's a general lack of belief in game development as a real career here in VA.  I've met a few locals over the years who expressed interest in development but were not completely dedicated to "making it happen".  I've been to a few conferences on the west coast where people take development very seriously and it's refreshing. 

I came out to a few IGDA DC & Vicinity meetings back in 2001/2002 and there were obviously some very serious developers taking part in that scene but at the time no one wanted to go indie.  Everyone I met was content working at large development houses like Bethesda or they wanted to work there.  At the time Garage Games was spewing their "own your IP" mantra and I thought that sounded pretty good so I had to find other like minded individuals which pretty much excluded everyone I met in the DC & Vicinity chapter.  In addition the 4 hour drive pretty much relegated any potential teamwork that may have arisen to remote work.

I've been looking for local developers who are serious for a while and it was nice to stumble upon a Richmond group.  It's about 1.5 hours away but my wife lived there during grad school so I can do the drive in my sleep.  I look forward to the possibilities this group can provide.

     

[Paolo]

Hi Jeremy,

It's good to know that more developers are posting on this board.  I'm an RIA specialist and have been working mostly with the .NET Framework and Silverlight.  I'm mostly working on little things in Flash and hope to publish something on NewGrounds sometime soon.

Sounds like you already have a lot of experience under your belt with the Torque engine.  Have you been looking at the C++ engine or the XNA framework for Torque?  I've always been a bit leary of doing something in Torque and leaning towards Flash, but I own a full copy of Visual Studio if you wanted to collaborate on something with Torque.

After working for a small game development company here, I've learned that indie is the way to go if you want your own ideas implemented.  So, I mostly fiddle with my own ideas and program at night when the wife and kids are asleep.

Looking forward to talking to you more about your own goals and ideas.

Paolo

[Sheridan]

Welcome Jeremy!  Glad to see some long term experience in the group!  We could definitely use your knowledge and experience.  I'm working on learning more about the tools of the trade.  We have a few developers (one proficient in Flash and Silverlight), an artist and someone from the game press.  We'll probably have our first meeting in January.  Feel free to participate in as many boards as you have interest.


Sheridan

[rgdsadmin]

I've learned that most things in the forum you should just leave as they fall.  Before I learned that I had split Jeremy's post.  Please visit http://forums.richmondgds.org/index.php?topic=66.0 to see the tools, blogs, and other resources that Jeremy recommends.

[GuitarCrazyo]

Stephen Fanning was the original Billy Campbell. He was replaced by Andrew Shue shortly before the series premiered. You can also spot Fannings face in the snooker scene during the first opening credits.