[Event] A MAZE. Interact 2013 - call for content

edited in Events
Hey all,

A MAZE. Interact 2013 will be happening in Braamfontein from 5 - 7 September. Everyone is invited to submit proposals for content in the following areas:

Original Games:
Digital Games - submit a short write up about the game, as well as a link to a playable prototype
Table-top Games - submit a short write up about the game, as well as illustrations/photographs/ruleset
Street Games (physical outdoor games) - submit a short write up about the game, as well as a ruleset and list of necessary equipment

Workshops:
Technical or creative workshops - submit a description of the workshop, the topics it would cover, the intended audience and any technical requirements

Talks and presentations:
Academic as well as industry focused presentations are welcome. Submit an abstract of the presentation, indicating the key words, areas of interest, intended audience, and technical requirements.
Talks should be in the range of 20 mins.

All submissions should be emailed to me at hanli.geyser@wits.ac.za by 1 August 2013.

The MakeGamesSA committee will be working with the A MAZE curatorial team in the selection of the original games from us, but international games and games from across Africa are also being solicited for exhibition. A curatorial team from A MAZE will therefore make the final selection of content.

I will keep you posted on all developments as they occur.

Comments

  • Awesome stuff!!! :D

    The festival was really fantastic last year. Looking forward to attending it again this year!
    Thanked by 1hanli
  • Do you have a closing date for submissions?
  • @tbulford
    All submission sshould be emailed to me at hanli.geyser@wits.ac.za by 1 August 2013.
    :)
  • What would "academic" presentations include?
  • edited
    By saying 'academic' and 'industry' we are simply trying to be as inclusive as possible. Academic in this context would refer to a analytical mode of thought, and/or presenting original research. It would refer to talks on game studies, game design, critical analysis etc.

    So, to use a crude example:
    If you present a talk on your game that acts as a demo, this is the game, here is some gameplay footage, this is what we wanted to make. That would probably be an industry talk. You are presenting a product.
    If you present a talk on your game, exploring your design decisions, giving a critique of your development process etc that would be more academic. You are speaking about your work in an analytical mode.

    We want to encourage BOTH types.

    Most of the talks that are presented at the monthly meetups would fit into one of these categories. It would be great to have people take a particularly strong talk from a meetup, rework it based on feedback, and present it in this different context.

    Types of talks that would be encouraged include, but are not limited to:
    Critical analysis of your own work and process
    Presentations on your games (show and tell mode to get critical feedback from a wider audience)
    Game design principles, lectures etc
    Analysis of games (case studies)
    Talks on/ evaluations of/ advice about the SA industry, the indi game industry etc
    'How to's' on interesting and tricky subjects that many in the field will encounter
    Researchers in game related areas presenting broad overviews of their work (technical papers, game studies papers etc)

    What we DON'T want:
    Badly disguised sales pitches.
    Academic papers that are so niche or 'heavy' they loose all meaning to a broader audience.
    Slap dash, off the cuff fillers.

    What we DO want:
    Things that make us think, debate and engage with the broader field of games.

    Selection:
    Final selection will be made by Thorsten and the team. This will depend on the number of submissions, time and space available and, if possible grouping of similarly themed presentations to encourage debate.

    This is a collection of talks, not a heavy 'peer reviewed' conference. We want to keep it interesting, relevant, and fun.

    I hope this helps?
  • I really want to submit a topic on games for the blind but previous efforts at running a discussion on this have met with derision because it completely excludes artists.

    However I think there are design opportunities available by focusing only on audio and other outputs.
  • edited
    ^^ Deep Sea of course: http://wraughk.com/deepsea/



    The designs for the game are available online (so you can build it yourself if you want to try out how AWESOME it is).

    I'm not trying to hijack your talk, though I do think any talk right now about games that have no visuals would be remiss in its exclusion of Deep Sea. I wonder if AMAZE has the Alexander Theatre again whether a big demonstration of the game (like they did at GDC 2012) would be possible.

    Though mentioning GDC 2012, maybe I'm a bit behind the times in terms of games without visuals? Are there other interesting projects that have explored this?

    I can't recall the incident where the idea of talking about games for the blind was met with derision, but I don't think the reasoning would have been that "it excludes artists". I'd suspect that this was the same disinterest that any topic about "Games For A Special Demographic That Includes No-One Actually Listening To The Talk And Which Few Of The People Actually Listening To The Talk Have Any Contact With" is going to be met with. It's a talk about the challenges of achieving a goal that few people in your audience want to achieve.

    But we all want to make interesting games (or hear about games which are interesting). Which is why I think a talk about the challenges of making cool games with only sound (like Deep Sea) or other normally secondary feedback is far better than a talk about making games for the blind (full disclosure: I don't know a single person who is blind or significantly sight impaired).
    Thanked by 1hanli
  • I'd like to do a talk on:

    Let's Play (from a game developer's perspective). (i.e. Industry Talk). I'll send an email.
    Thanked by 2hanli atomicdomb
  • I would be happy to present something...I just have no idea what I would present. ;)
    Thanked by 1hanli
  • Hey All,

    Just a reminder to send me any proposals/ideas for workshops, talks or demonstrations of your games as soon as you can!
  • Hi! I'll put up an updated version of my game's video, but I definitely would like to show it for AMAZE! :D
    It's a two-player versus puzzle/platformer game so I think it suits spectatorship too :)
    Thanked by 1Kaiser_Gun
  • edited
    So I finally have an idea for a talk that might be worth listening to:

    Breaking out of SA. A study of how local games have captured attention, why you should aim to do the same and conclusions on design/development practices to make that more likely.

    I would also like to propose some open question sessions, where people can ask established local indies questions about pretty much anything. That went on for way longer than it was planned to last year.

    Also, I'd like to submit Desktop Dungeons :)
    Thanked by 2Tuism hanli
  • @dislekcia wrote:
    Breaking out of SA. A study of how local games have captured attention, why you should aim to do the same and conclusions on design/development practices to make that more likely.
    I defiantly want to attend this one it seams to me to be the most critical gap for any South African game studio.
  • How do you submit a game to A MAZE ?
  • @JohanNagel:
    Digital Games - submit a short write up about the game, as well as a link to a playable prototype

    All submissions should be emailed to me at hanli.geyser@wits.ac.za by 1 August 2013.
    :)
  • oh crap I didn't see that bit!!! >_< getting on it now...
    Thanked by 1hanli
  • The date for AMAZE has been set, there's an event on faceblargh: http://www.facebook.com/events/629350183756723/ if you're into that kind of thing :)
    Thanked by 1hanli
  • Would there be an OUYA at Amaze? Curious to see if it's worth all the fuss :)
  • Hello Everyone,

    The official program for AMAZE. will be announced later this week. There is some great international content coming, and I am really really excited.

    From our side the following MakeGamesSA members have been invited to participate, and we are waiting for confirmation from you/them as to their availability:

    Workshops:
    Travis Bulford - "Building 2D engine from scratch in Unity"
    André Odendaal - "Sound in Games"

    Talks:
    Peter Cardwell-Gardner - "The psychology of why we to fail to fail"
    Evan Greenwood - "Let's Play"
    Ruan Rothmann - "Greenlight is a Path, not an Obstacle"
    Danny Day - "Breaking out of SA"

    Street Games:
    Danny Day - "En Garde"
    (others tbc when I get the rules)

    PC/mac/etc Games:
    Gaint Box Games- "Pixel Boy"
    Christopher Bischoff - "Stasis"
    RETROEPIC - "Day in the Woods"
    Richard Pieterse - "Escape Velocity"
    Manikin Games - "Silhouette"

    Mobile Games:
    Tsoopid - "Snail Boy" (even just a demo?)
    Tasty Poison - "Neon Shadow" (even just a demo?)
    Kerosene Games - "Bounty Arms"

    None of the games that were on the show last year have been selected. I think it sucks, because I know how far many of those games have come, but I also understand why the ruling was made.

    I hope that everyone who is invited to will be able to contribute, and that every one else comes out to support! I'll post the full international program as soon as we have the all clear.

    best
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