next »

[Golds]

...and with portals like steam, xbla, psn etc and the growing indie community (like this forum!) we're seeing the small pioneering team reemerge as a viable way to make games.

I just saw this report on Gamasutra, stating that downloadable content from consoles is going to hit $500 million in revenue this year.  Certainly good news for indies, at least those of whom are lucky enough to get a slot on XBLA or PSN.

[fish]

so when's the next one?
i kinda want to give it a shot.

[Golds]

so when's the next one?

I don't think anyone's decided yet.  Matthew got the last one started...  I'm all setup  to record directly from Skype if people are interested in doing something like a podcast (which i think is great idea-- there hasn't been an arsecast in months).

The last one was really fun!

[Derek]

I need to get a bloody mic.  And some beer.

[Guert]

Hmm... I'm interested... But... I don't have skype... Never used it... Actualy, I'm not sure I know exactly what it is... Is it anything like teamspeak?

[fish]

does skype work on mac?

[Golds]

Skype works on OS X yeah.  http://skype.com/ should autodetect that you're a mac for the download.

[BenH]

I'm totally in on this, I'm a skype whore

[Alec]

We should probably organize it like a "call-in show" a bit. (through IRC)

There's a limit to how many people we can have on at once. (was it 10?)

[Matthew]

The limit was 10, yeah.  I think you can make it a "skypecast" rather than a straight conference call to increase that limit.  Although then I'm unclear if everyone can talk or if only a few can talk and more can listen.

Also, to participate you must be drunk.  It's just easier that way.

[Alec]

The limit was 10, yeah.  I think you can make it a "skypecast" rather than a straight conference call to increase that limit.  Although then I'm unclear if everyone can talk or if only a few can talk and more can listen.

Also, to participate you must be drunk.  It's just easier that way.

With more than 10 people it would get too hard to have a discussion anyways... makes more sense to have it be like a "panel" and then have people coming on to ask questions, or just have it as a discussion on rotation so that everyone gets a chance to be part of it.

Yea, alcohol is required.

[Eden]

I like the panel idea. What about doing this tomorrow, or the next day?

[ithamore]

I'd be interested on at least listening and adding a couple comments or questions, but it when depend on what time in what timezone the discussion is scheduled for, since I live in the far eastern side of the Eastern Hemisphere.

Also, although only 10 people can talk at once, can all the listeners still text chat in the same conversation? I've never use Skype for more than 1 to 1 conversations.

[Alec]

Also, although only 10 people can talk at once, can all the listeners still text chat in the same conversation? I've never use Skype for more than 1 to 1 conversations.

We can just all text chat on tigIRC.

[Al King]

Still, people could put forward suggestions for discussions etc. if you're gonna do a panel kind of thing.

[ithamore]

Still, people could put forward suggestions for discussions etc. if you're gonna do a panel kind of thing.

That was what I was trying to imply.

Since then, I've done a little reading of the Skype guides. Conference calls are limited to 10 participants. No one else can even listen in. Skypecasts allow for up to 100 participants. The moderator, among other abilities, can choose which people can join the conversation, and listeners can request to speak. But it seems if listeners what to text chat amongst themselves about the discussion while it's going on, tigIRC would be the best choice.

[skaldicpoet9]

I'd definitely be down on getting in on this, I just bought a new headset and I have nothing to use it for lol...no but this could really be interesting, I especially like Alec's suggestion on the topic being "the future of indie games", I have been thinking about some of the same stuff....

[fish]

hey eden, im just seeing your PM right mow.
sunday the 21st in the afternoon would be best for me.

[Golds]

Another possibility would be to use a something like Nicecast to simultaneously record and broadcast a live mp3 stream of the skype chat, so anyone could listen in and talk smack or whatever in the irc channel.

It'd be cool to cover the different development environments that indies are using for their work.  I know some people are having success with Unity, but there's also Java, Flash (Gamasutra has another article on flash game devs making an ad-supported living off their work), Multimedia Fusion, GM, and the more traditional route of using OpenGL+SDL, DirectX, XNA, etc... oh, and it was fun last time to talk shit about Torque.

Talking business, piracy and serial schemes, and the role of publishers might be another good related topic.

Oh also, covering the IGF/GDC would be great: how it's evolved over the years, and its role in getting exposure and launching indie careers.

[JohnB]

I'd definitely be into a Skype conversation of some sort. We should probably hold off on panel-type discussions and other more complex ideas for a bit and just do a few raw Skypecasts (with topics) and see how they go, then refine from there.