Gratitude, game dev, and interactive arts festivities!

November falls with a special focus on sharing knowledge within our incredible community of game developers and interactive artists.

Hi friend!

As we embrace the crisp November air and the warmth of Thanksgiving approaches, we're grateful for the vibrant community of game developers and interactive artists that make our collective journey so enriching. 

At TIAC, we believe in the power of sharing, so this month, we're encouraging everyone to spew their knowledge of news and educational resources that inspire and inform. What are your favorites? Let us know by hopping on Discord and posting in the general channel. Here’s an invitation, should you require: https://discord.gg/v23dhXPZPk

What are the contents of this November newsletter?

• A call for volunteers for a very special event. Perhaps you can guess the one? Hint: It happens December 9th

• This month’s project spotlight 

• Upcoming events, including revealing the mystery mentioned last time. Plus, announcing the speaker for this month’s exciting playtest night. 

• A recap of a recent fun and engaging event

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Call for Volunteers + Free Networking Feast

Planning the layout of the Oak City Indie Games.

Are you interested in getting a free ticket and a generous portion of networking by helping us out with the Oak City Indie Games Showcase event on December 9th?

Reach out to me (Crystina) on discord at crystinahalcyon. Or, email me at triangleinteractivearts@gmail.com. Either way, I’ll respond with a sign-up form to get the process started.

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Spotlight on Neat Tech: World to Build

Screencap from one of the voxel games.

You might know Garrett from being one of the organizers for the Oak City Indie Games showcase. He, along with Armand, are two TIAC members working on this fantastic voxel-based sandbox game. It was created in 2018 right here in the Triangle by them and other students from Wake Tech Community College. The team has been caught at many local events such as ECGC (2019, 2021, 2022) and Oak City Indie Games (2019, 2022). They visit Wake Tech's capstone project presentations every year to look for talent and provide opportunities for new developers to get their hands dirty. 

World to Build is passionate about bringing magic and learning to the next generation the same way they found the magic in games in their early years. The game hosts around 10k accounts and 3k games all made by players. Players make their own avatar using a custom voxel editor and uploading their creations alongside 5k other player-made voxel designs. The end-game is to make development fun and easy for young developers (who don't know they're developers yet) by lowering the skill floor for things like art and coding with features like voxel models and visual scripting. Read a blog post on the secret to their visual scripting system here. 

Garrett is a.k.a. as tyster on our TIAC server, and Armand is a.k.a. Armand. Reach out to them on Discord to learn more about their work.

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Upcoming Triangle Interactive Events

• THIS FRIDAY Nov 17: Art, Games, & HUE - Indie Game Playtest Night + Guest Speaker

This month, we’re thrilled to announce our special guest, Nate Abell. He’s the Art Director at Hyperion Realms, and will generously be speaking on art theory in games. Learn more and RSVP on Meetup.

• Nov 30: The Mystery Revealed! Board Game Night + Potluck of hors d'oeuvres

I (Crystina) will be hosting a game of Root (woot, woot!) at our awesome TIAC office at Frontier RTP, and you’re invited! Root is an adventure war game in which up to 4 (sorry folks, don’t have the expansion set!) players battle for control of a great woodland. It’s fairly complex, but as the host, my main role will be to assist other players. Plan on 7 - 10pm and bring small appetizers to share. Info on the game night and RSVPs through Meetup.

• Dec 9: The Oak City Indie Games Showcase is sneaking up on us…

Whether or not you’re participating in the Oak City Game Jam going on now through when the showcase happens on December 9th - your project could be one of those highlighted during this year’s main event. Get your tickets today!

• Every Thursday: Coworking at Frontier RTP

Other Community Events

• Dec 12: IGDA NC Triangle - Hang out at the Tavern

Get out the house and join local game devs at a great gaming hangout in Cary. Attendance is free. Join and RSVP on Meetup.com.

• Every Monday: Raleigh Independent Game Developers - GameDev Coworking

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Giving Thanks for Last Friday

We had an impressive turnout at our Kickoff Party for Oak City Indie Jam on November 10th. Thanks to all who showed up! Seems like more than a couple of projects are on the way and even a few collaborations to keep an eye out for!

This will be a month-long game jam where we'll get together to collaborate and make games. Whether you're an artist, designer, programmer, or just starting out, we're excited to welcome you and assist in connecting you with a team. Ask us about office hours happening to assist folks on certain Sundays!

If you’d like to learn more about joining our coworking space, email us: hello@triangleinteractivearts.org.

Thanks be to you now and next time!
- Crystina Halcyon

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