GamesCon Part 2: Utah Games Guild

So when I first walked into Games Con 2015, the first thing that caught my eye was the Utah Games Guild.  I first heard of it from my fellow Mormon Geeks author Stephen. I went up to talk to the person at the front desk. She said that it was something created to help indie video game developers get more coverage.  I wanted to talk to some of the people "in charge" of the Guild, but he was occupied talking with someone else.

After wandering around Games Con, I came back to the Guild's booth and talked with someone that was in charge of their social media events. His name was Josh. He told me that there are hundreds of Utah indie video game developers that just don't know how to market themselves or their games. So, in May 2014, a group of indie developers got together and shared some space to help publicize their work.  To learn more about the Utah Games Guild, see their website or their Twitter.

The Games Guild booth

I'm also going to write briefly about some of the games that I saw.

Can't Look Back is a game that involves trying to defeat your opponents by running into them from the side or back. If a player runs into someone head on, they both die. One of the most interesting parts of the game is that players can only turn from side to side or go forward. They can't go back (exactly what name of the game says). To learn more, check out their website.

Aurora Redemptus is a game all about turn-based space ship battles. Each side inputs their commands and then the commands play out in real time. Players can build and customize their ships as well! Multiplayer is planned for the game. To learn more, see the developers website.

Crashnauts is one of two games that I actually tried out. (Plenty of developers offered for me to play, but I declined so I didn't spend a lot of time with any one game). Crashnauts is a multiplayer brawler game where each player has access to a broad arsenal of weapons including futuristic guns and small range plasma blasts. I won the one and only game I played, mostly because the developer was whispering to me how to play the game. The game was really fun and reminded me of Super Smash Brothers. The game is currently running a Kickstarter campaign to try to get funded. You can also see their Twitter.

The Cruashnauts booth

I also sat down and played a demo for a game called Frayed Knights: The Skull of Smakh-Daon. It is a light-hearted first person 3D turn-based RPG. The demo was a lot of fun with witty dialogue, including the game breaking the 4th wall and saying an area wasn't available because it was only a demo.  The game was greenlighted on Steam! To learn more about it see the games website.

I also briefly talked to someone about a free to play game called Saga. We basically were able to describe the game using a series of abbreviations: co-op MMO RTS TCG RPG. (Yes, I know co-op is not an abbreviation). Basically that means it's a cooperative, massively multiplayer online, real time strategy, trading card game, role playing game.

I had an interesting discussion with Josh while look at his game that he was developing. The game is called Legacy of the Elder Star. It's a side scrolling shoot-em-up game with beautiful graphics. The music was also top notch. When I mentioned that to Josh, he talked about how music was an often under appreciated part of games. He said 'What would Halo be like without a full orchestra playing the music?' It just wouldn't be the same! He also talked about how many different fun little nuances games have. He even pointed out that someone has come and played the demo for his game multiple times, but still hasn't noticed one of the harder to miss mechanics in the game.  To learn more, see the developer's Twitter or the game's website.

Of all the games that I saw, I think Dub Wars really captivated me. When I first walked by, I saw large speakers and heard crazy music. To my amazement, someone was playing some kind of shooter game.  I watched, trying to figure out exactly what was going on. The music and the levels totally entranced me. I finally tracked down the someone involved with working on the game. Basically the game is a shooter where what weapons the player fires depends on what kind of instrument is playing on the music track (the game has somewhere around 150 weapons). All of the music was what would be called 'dub steb' or EDM. Apparently the developers of the game work closely with the music artists to create each level. Each song has it's own unique stage and weapons. Before each stage, there is a splash screen with information about the artist. To learn more about the game, see their website.

Dub Wars: Firing Lasers!

 Well, that's all the games I saw at GamesCon. Hopefully you see some that pique your interest!

Gamescon SLC 2015: So Many Cool Things, So Little Time!

So I went to Gamescon in Salt Lake City last weekend. Sadly, the week was so busy, I was only able to go on Saturday. Let me tell you, 4 hours is not nearly enough to experience everything the Con had to offer! Let me share with you a brief overview of some of the things I did and experienced. I've decided to do two different posts on the Con: one about everything in general, and one about the Utah Indie Games Guild (I spent a lot of time with them).

So, I walked into the convention center with my usually feeling of dread I feel toward conventions. Perhaps memories of ComicCon being over capacity last year were tainting my feelings toward this convention. It was already Saturday afternoon, and there was only a few people waiting to buy tickets. 

After some questions, I went to the VIG/Press pass booth and picked up my press pass. The man at the booth took my name and said to me "You know the rules, right?". Honestly, I felt the pit of my stomach drop out. He then said "You're supposed to have fun!". I'm surprised I didn't laugh with relief. He did mention a few places where I could and couldn't take pictures. Still feeling nervous, I decided to wonder around outside of the main hall for awhile.

Insert anxiety selfie here!

I glanced into one of the rooms and saw some people playing some sort of MOBA game (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena). After awhile, I realized it looked a lot like Defense of the Ancients. There were even commentators speaking about what was going on! I didn't realize that DotA was still a thing! I got a little bored so I wondered a bit more.

That's when I saw him. Jon Bailey. He's the epic voice behind Honest Game Trailers and Honest Trailers. I'm a really big fan of his, so I only looked at him from way across the giant lobby area. I'm really sad that shyness overtook me. I heard his voice a number of times during the convention. That was the only time I saw him.

Jon Bailey is awesome!

Next I stepped into the convention hall, and immediately saw the Utah Indie Games Guild. I was immediately intrigued. I had only recently heard about them from another Mormon Geeks author, Stephen. I didn't talk with them immediately, but instead decided just to walk through and look at what they had to offer. There were loads and loads of really cool indie games. I'll save my adventures with them for a second blog post!

I wondered the convention hall and saw lots of interesting things. There was a showing from XBox and Playstation 4. There were multiple consoles set up for people to play Mortal Combat X and other fighting games. There was even a Guitar Hero 4 game set up (they wouldn't let us take pictures or videos near there). I saw some booths with various computer accessories and graphics cards. Other booths sold geeky T-shirts, clothing that would go well with fantasy cos-plays, weapons, beautiful artwork, and even some that sold food. None of the food seemed all that geeky/nerdy though. There were tables dedicated to games of Dungeons and Dragons, Yu-Gi-Oh, and countless other games I didn't recognize.

I noticed that there was a Hearthstone tournament going on. Hearthstone is an online trading card game published by Blizzard Entertainment. They also had a Heroes of the Storm tournament going on! I didn't investigate too closely into that.

As a fun aside, I saw a co-worker of mine sitting down and playing with a game at the Utah Indie Games Guild. I lurked until I saw he was done. He looked at me, but didn't act like he recognized me. After wondering near him for awhile, he finally came up to me and said hello. That's when he told me I probably knew his twin. I laughed quite a bit about that. I never realized the guy had a twin! 

Shortly afterward, a woman pointed at my shirt, laughed a bit and said "I love your shirt!" I'm wasn't quite sure how to take it, but I smiled and said "Thanks!"

Some people fighting with fake weapons!

Did I mention all the awesome cosplays I saw? 

• I saw a Lord Zed dressed up as the red power ranger (confusing that one).
• I warily eyed someone in a hockey mask with some kind of bloody blade. The fact the guy was 3 times my size made me super nervous.
• I saw 4 people with sims' diamonds above their heads. Two were green, one was yellow, one was red. I nearly ran up to the person in red and said "This person needs food, Stat!"
• There was a guy dressed up as Axel from Kingdom Hearts, complete with Axel's weapons
• I saw someone who had painted their skin purple and was wearing an Ursala costume!
• There was also an Ariel that was being pulled around in a cart.

Traditional convention soft pretzel!

Well, I didn't exactly see the Ariel cosplay being pulled around in the cart. Near the end of my visit to the convention, I went into the VIG/Press pass lounge. I was just about to ask the guy at the front desk what was going on when I was distracted by something on the table. There was a giant lizard there. I blinked at it totally confused. I thought it was a bearded dragon but someone from Creature Encounters came up and said it was a Tegu to someone else. It was an incredibly laid back lizard. It spent most of the time walking back and forth on the table and flicking out it's tongue. Creatures Encounters also had a few different boa constrictors there, slinking along different people. I actually held one of the snakes for awhile (and got some pictures with it). They also had some tarantulas they were letting people hold. I was terrified at first, but after awhile, they started to look cute. I didn't hold a tarantula.

Excuse me sir, there's a big lizard on your table

It's tongue tickled!

Stay tuned next week for some of the fun indie games I saw at the convention!