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jasonf
04-06-2008, 01:10 AM
Have you ever wondered what would happen if a load of PGD members ever converged in one place at the same time? It'd probably cause some sort of stock market crash or the end of the world or something.. which is why I think it's never been attempted before..

Now, I've never believed such stuff, call it foolish, call it reckless, but it's a chance I'm willing to take.

I want us to arrange the 1st Pascal Game Developers Conference.
It'll be open to anyone and everyone on the site, to pascal developers, artists, musicians and anyone else who wants to take part.

Because apart from just getting together, meeting like minded developers and generally being a good laugh, there's a bigger issue to resolve... and I think we all know what it is....




( cue drum rolls and dramatic music... )



In lieu of the 2008 Annual...


(drum roll intensifies)



There will be a global gathering,


a meeting of minds,


a Code-off,


A 3 day code-a-thon



Ladies and Gentlemen, without further ado

I present, the 2008, PGD Competition

Red Versus Blue,

A contest between competing teams to make the best game possible in a very short amount of time, from the Friday night to Sunday afternoon. Your team will be required to carve code from the very fabric of imagination itself.


(music stops abruptly)


all we have to do, is decide when and where...




(music continues)

A location has not yet been decided upon, We'll leave that up to you.

If you're interested, if you've up for it, PM me with your Country and City and which month this year you'd feel would be best.

Then, once we've collected enough, we'll decide on a location and date.


The actual rules to the compo and prizes will be detailed later. But essentially, we need to know that you're up for it.

cairnswm
04-06-2008, 03:41 AM
Yes Please :)

I have a few things planned so I hope the weekend selected doesn't clash with them. :)

savage
04-06-2008, 08:03 AM
PGDCon FTW!

JSoftware
04-06-2008, 09:00 AM
Awesome idea

If it's in western mainland Europe I might have a slim chance to participate

jasonf
04-06-2008, 11:29 AM
COOL, The more the merrier. 8)

PM me with details so I can find the asses possible location.

JSoftware
04-06-2008, 07:26 PM
To me: Scandinavia, Northern half of germany or the Netherlands would be awesome. I don't want to travel by plane or anything. If anything I think germany or netherlands would be a pretty good place as the concentration of pascal programmers seem pretty high about here

arthurprs
04-06-2008, 07:39 PM
=(


come to brasil guys 8) 8) 8)

JernejL
04-06-2008, 08:54 PM
I could be there, i can take a week off work..

arthurprs
04-06-2008, 09:32 PM
=(


come to brasil guys 8) 8) 8)

the girls here love guys from another country 8) 8) 8)

Legolas
05-06-2008, 12:40 AM
Cool! I like this contest ;)



=(



come to brasil guys 8) 8) 8)

the girls here love guys from another country 8) 8) 8)


if guysFromAnotherCountry in BrasilianGirls then
inc(BrasilCount);

:joker:

Maybe somewhere equidistant (http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=39.461644,-31.195679&spn=2.090711,3.88916&t=h&z=8) to PGD members could be nice :mrgreen:

cronodragon
05-06-2008, 01:24 AM
Cool! I like this contest ;)



=(



come to brasil guys 8) 8) 8)

the girls here love guys from another country 8) 8) 8)


if guysFromAnotherCountry in BrasilianGirls then
inc(BrasilCount);

:joker:

Maybe somewhere equidistant (http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=39.461644,-31.195679&spn=2.090711,3.88916&t=h&z=8) to PGD members could be nice :mrgreen:

Brazil is not so far from here, I'd go :D

Hey, shouldn't you invite people from the Lazarus and FPC mailing lists?

jasonf
05-06-2008, 12:20 PM
All are invited, however, I don't know them that well. Those who know them should get in touch and point them this way.

We need plenty of people interested in this to make it worthwhile.
The location is probably going to be somewhere around Germany as that's where the majority of interested people appear to be.

If you want it somewhere else, let us know :)

Once enough people have expressed an interest, I'll put a poll on the site to determine the location. Then we have to choose a date and find a venue.

I'm really excited about it, it's going to be a lot of fun and I imagine some of the pictures will be ranging from the mad to the outright bizarre :)

jasonf
05-06-2008, 12:32 PM
Maybe somewhere equidistant (http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=39.461644,-31.195679&spn=2.090711,3.88916&t=h&z=8) to PGD members could be nice :mrgreen:

PMSL :LOL: Does it have a secret underground volcano base?...

Firlefanz
05-06-2008, 01:45 PM
Cool idea. I'd vote for Germany, but I cannot 100% promise I would visit, if it is really here. But I would try a weekend or something :wink:

Perhaps anybody should tell which country he would visit, and which Date is possible for him.

Firle

NecroDOME
05-06-2008, 03:19 PM
You got my vote for The Nederlands or west Germany.

technomage
05-06-2008, 03:46 PM
I'm up for this.

Somewhere in Europe would be nice.:D

De-Panther
05-06-2008, 05:04 PM
Maybe somewhere equidistant (http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=39.461644,-31.195679&spn=2.090711,3.88916&t=h&z=8) to PGD members could be nice :mrgreen:

PMSL :LOL: Does it have a secret underground volcano base?...

more importent:
is there internet or tv in this place? :lol:


Come to Israel!
It'll be fun

arthurprs
05-06-2008, 05:10 PM
Maybe somewhere equidistant (http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=39.461644,-31.195679&spn=2.090711,3.88916&t=h&z=8) to PGD members could be nice :mrgreen:

PMSL :LOL: Does it have a secret underground volcano base?...

more importent:
is there internet or tv in this place? :lol:


Come to Israel!
It'll be fun

is there any fun with living suicide bombs?

let's go cuba 8)

cairnswm
05-06-2008, 06:28 PM
As long as everything has an online equivilent I'll 'be' there.

cronodragon
05-06-2008, 09:30 PM
Maybe somewhere equidistant (http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=39.461644,-31.195679&spn=2.090711,3.88916&t=h&z=8) to PGD members could be nice :mrgreen:

PMSL :LOL: Does it have a secret underground volcano base?...

more importent:
is there internet or tv in this place? :lol:


Come to Israel!
It'll be fun

is there any fun with living suicide bombs?

let's go cuba 8)

Haha, Cuba doesn't have living suicide bombs, just long-beared cigar smokers... but smoking is suicidal anyway ;)

Due to immigration politics, it's hard to get to Europe for us... we need to demonstrate we have hotel reservations and bring $500 in cash. :?

De-Panther
05-06-2008, 09:38 PM
Maybe somewhere equidistant (http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=39.461644,-31.195679&spn=2.090711,3.88916&t=h&z=8) to PGD members could be nice :mrgreen:

PMSL :LOL: Does it have a secret underground volcano base?...

more importent:
is there internet or tv in this place? :lol:


Come to Israel!
It'll be fun

is there any fun with living suicide bombs?

let's go cuba 8)

You have problems with Bomb Runner?:=P

at least you don't have problems with the camels :lol:

arthurprs
05-06-2008, 10:32 PM
Maybe somewhere equidistant (http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=39.461644,-31.195679&spn=2.090711,3.88916&t=h&z=8) to PGD members could be nice :mrgreen:

PMSL :LOL: Does it have a secret underground volcano base?...

more importent:
is there internet or tv in this place? :lol:


Come to Israel!
It'll be fun

is there any fun with living suicide bombs?

let's go cuba 8)

Haha, Cuba doesn't have living suicide bombs, just long-beared cigar smokers... but smoking is suicidal anyway ;)

Due to immigration politics, it's hard to get to Europe for us... we need to demonstrate we have hotel reservations and bring $500 in cash. :?

same here to go to europe :(,

the problem with cuba is that the country has NO INTERNET :( due to politics, that by the way, is going better with Raul in command.

maybe m?©xico? 8)

jasonf
06-06-2008, 09:11 AM
We need more people chaps, spread the word.

The timescales are around October/November time, which should give us time to arrange something.

Ideally, it'll be in the home town of one of our members so they can act as a local liaison.

I'm plotting people's rough locations on Google Earth.
http://www.postimage.org/aV2uMpGJ.jpg (http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=aV2uMpGJ)
Sorry it's only Europe and Northern Africa, I tried to include everyone, but I couldn't see anything for ocean :D

I want more pins people :D Chirp in if you're interested.

Huehnerschaender
06-06-2008, 10:56 PM
Hey! Yes, I am alive! And if this event will start in germany, then count me in (as long as I do not need to kill people to get the week sparetime)

GREAT IDEA BTW!

JernejL
06-06-2008, 11:22 PM
Could just do it somewhere in the netherlands or germany?

WILL
06-06-2008, 11:34 PM
Dirk! sorry buddy meant to tell you about this... been crazy here lately. :p

You have to be there man. It's going to be a huge deal to have you all there. :)

Just wish I was posted to Europe then so I could attend too. :D I'd fill out the leave pass and everything!

WILL
08-06-2008, 04:46 AM
You should send some personal emails out and get some RSVPs Jason. :)

Firlefanz
08-06-2008, 01:44 PM
West Germany or maybe Nederlands for me also :)

Or perhaps we could do as many locations as we wish, one in West Germany, one in the USA or whereever and the bring thos together with a video conference :)

WILL
08-06-2008, 05:26 PM
What like PGDCon|West and PGDCon|East? :) You would then have East vs West compo. :lol:

jasonf
09-06-2008, 10:08 AM
I'd be very wary of trying to bite off too much by trying to arrange multiple venues.. my time is scarce as it is and it's going to take a lot of effort to get a single event in place.. trying to co-ordinate multiple venues would probably be a disaster.

I realise that it's going to be difficult for people to get to the venue, which is why I want to place it in the most convenient place for the most people. Obviously that means inconveniencing others... but if we make a decent effort, it'll be a great weekend.

So far, it's looking like Oct/Nov time and in Germany, preferably near to an international airport.

I need more people to get behind this and push it, it will only work if there's enough people. So we need other pascal forums to get involved too.

We need enough people for about 4 teams, each team with 4-6 people in it. Evenly split. teams will be chosen on the day and will consist of coders, graphic artists, to a random theme, picked from a hat.

Initial thoughts are:

Topics, styles and genres will be placed into a hat. Each team's captain will take a genre, a topic and a style. This will be the game their team must create. (partly to limit scope to allow it to be finished in time and partly to speed up the creative process)

2D or 3D will be a choice for the team on the day.. there'll be no tech or engine restrictions. Use what ya bring.. as long as the core programming on the day is Pascal.

Any compiler can be used, it'd be a good idea to standardise for each team, but each team should be able to work with their chosen platform.. any impossible pairings will be ironed out.


Whilst the game development is going on, it'd be great if some people who've had successes in Game Dev using Pascal, did presentations. Perhaps about how they solved various issues or even talking about their game or engine.
People will be able to take a little time out from the coding to watch presentations by people.

After all coding is done, we'll get some people from outside to play-test the games and put a rating into a secret ballot box.

Prizes will be awarded to the winning team (perhaps a trophy or something) hopefully Dom can get hold of some companies to sponsor us for prizes, so all participating teams get something.


We're in June at the moment, time is short, so I need to know numbers very quickly.

arthurprs
09-06-2008, 05:12 PM
:( its hard to travel to europe, lets find another location?

jasonf
09-06-2008, 10:18 PM
There's always the ISS.. that's equally easy for everyone. :lol:

How cool would that be?... and even better now they've got their loo fixed :wink:

czar
09-06-2008, 11:35 PM
I hear the bar is quite expensive though.

De-Panther
09-06-2008, 11:42 PM
I liked the idea of West against East.
It's just that you need more people to orginize it

but one place could be much better if it's going to be the way jasonf diescribed it

JernejL
12-06-2008, 09:49 PM
So far, it's looking like Oct/Nov time and in Germany, preferably near to an international airport.

What's wrong with summer? summer is great, i can take time off whole week during summer for this and not look weird at my workplace, make it august please?

Make it during summer please?

Luuk van Venrooij
15-06-2008, 10:28 AM
Sounds like a great plan count me in:D. West germany would have my vote since I`m from holland:D. You also should check arround the DelphiGL forums. Lot`s of guys from germany and surrounding contries there.

WILL
20-06-2008, 07:07 PM
A bump and a "Hey interested people, pipe up!" :lol:

Seriously guys, this is an awesome opportunity for those in the PGD online community to meet some seriously talented people and learn all kinds of crazy skills. Heck if I was residing in Europe at that time, I'd sure attend! It would be a ton of fun to meet and work with these people. Rock stars, they may not be, they do have a lot of skill and knowledge that they can share to those that attend.


So whats the interested body count Jay? :)

JSoftware
20-06-2008, 07:18 PM
How about creating a subforum for this occassion?

I'm still down, for the record

pstudio
20-06-2008, 09:33 PM
Depending on when and where I'll be interested in it. But I'll have to know the date in good time, so I can renew my passport and save up some money.
But it does sound like good fun.

farcodev_
01-07-2008, 06:33 AM
I'm not in europe, so not so possible :oops:

Chobley
09-07-2008, 09:39 PM
This would be something I would be interested if it goes into its second year - I'm guessing everyone is independant game developers on this site, like me, well think of this I'm a beginner. Just fumbling around for now in Pascal as an amateur...Just started downloading the desktop stuff and some tutorials, as coming from MIDlet Pascal if you know what I mean by that...I live in the UK near London (you probably can find that out staff anyway)...if you think I could help and funds permit then I would be interested in it's second year (just spent this years development budget on a mousemat)

If you find out that I'm totally useless as part of a team - then could always make anyone a great cup of tea and just listen in and see what goes on...and learn!

jasonf
20-08-2008, 08:30 AM
Dear Friends,

Sorry for the delay in posting this, things have been extremely hectic in my personal life lately and I've not been able to focus on the PGDCon at all, let alone any game development.

With the original date only a few months away and with no end in sight to my current load, I'm very sorry to have to back out of the event, in any capacity.

There is still time I feel for someone else to pick up the rains and arrange the PGDCon and given the amount of support stated, I'm sure it will be a fantastic gathering.

However, I won't be able to attend. I wish it were otherwise but I cannot realistically pledge enough time to do the event justice and for this I am truly sorry.


I wish whoever takes this on, the very best of luck.

All the best

JasonF

Chesso
03-01-2009, 12:45 PM
It's a lovely idea, but until we all become rich and have ridiculous amounts of time on our hands, it will be difficult for some to attend.

Have you guys ever thought of a more modern meet? I know you cannot beat in the flesh, but a co-ordinated over the net video/voice meet could work (as an alternative for others who cannot attend at some other point in time)? Or something along those lines...... lol.

WILL
06-01-2009, 11:42 PM
I think the original idea was to try to get as many pascal programmers in one place, at any capacity and try to do a slightly larger scale version of what NecroSOFT does all the time. Or a smaller version of the PGD Annual Game Programming competitions.

So much for PGDCon 2008, but maybe there is hope for this idea to take place in 2009? PGD is too small and widespread a community to make this event take off for everyone, some will have to be left out unfortunately, but if you can figure out the biggest allotment of people that can meet in one area that could be the start of a PGD-inspired community event that can take place annually. It then becomes something that, if successful, can grow into a bigger event. Provided it doesn't suck. :lol:

NecroDOME
07-01-2009, 06:27 PM
Speed game dev ftw!!