Saturday, September 28th: We are OPEN!

September 28, 2013

Hackforge is open until five today, and we’re testing the 3D printer. Come down and join us!

Windsor Essex Open Data :: first steps

September 27, 2013

Wednesday, October 2, 2013, 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Hackforge, Central Branch, Windsor Public Library

This will be a ‘First Steps’ meeting with two topics on our agenda. The first will be a discussion on whether we should participate in a local Open311 initiative.

Open311 Explained:: http://www.mysociety.org/2013/01/17/open311-explained/
SeeClickFix :: http://seeclickfix.com/
FixMyStreet :: http://www.fixmystreet.ca/
an upcoming Open Data Challenge: https://www.kaggle.com/c/see-click-predict-fix

The second matter will be a discussion whether we’d like to be involved in any data *collection* work, and if so, with what common theme. Possible ideas include:

bicycling
energy related
transit
your suggestions

If you have any questions or suggestions, you can let me know at mita@hackf.org

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Access System Malfunction

September 6, 2013

by admin in Uncategorized

We have had a malfunction of the access system, as such key cards aren’t working. Hopefully we should have the problem fixed on Saturday.

Hackforge Summer Games Resource List

August 17, 2013

by admin in Games

Here are some of the resources shared on Saturday’s launch of the Hackforge Summer Games contest. Share yours in the comments!

Randy McGall’s List

A Dictionary of Video Game Theory Half-Real: Video Games between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds, 2005 Jesper Juul http://www.half-real.net/dictionary/
Behavioral Game Design Microsoft, John Hopson, 2001 http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3085/behavioral_game_design.php?page=1
Designing around a Core Mechanic Funstorm http://www.funstormgames.com/blog/2012/06/designing-around-a-core-mechanic/
Game Mechanics Gamification Wiki
Game Mechanics Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_mechanics
MDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research, 2001 Robin Hunicke, Marc LeBlanc, Robert Zubek http://www.cs.northwestern.edu/~hunicke/pubs/MDA.pdf
MDA Model for Game Design Talk, six part video Adelaide University Game Development Club, Dylan Sale, 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv36o41OcLw&list=PL76402B306F2168E6&index=1

Anthony Garreffa’s Game Loop Presentation & Materials

Presentation Slides https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1oTuIPYY7cyhj7NbHymp3AwPxWtQih0c78TlT6P5O8Hs/edit?usp=sharing
Demo Repo https://github.com/jhive/1945-demo
Ash Seed Repo https://github.com/jhive/ashseed

Doug Sartori’s Presentation & Code

Minimax Algorithm https://github.com/dsartori/minimax
AI Talk http://hackf.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/2013_summer_games_ai_talk.pdf

HTML5 Game Development Resources by Jeff Szusz

Choosing an Engine

Which HTML5 Game Engine is right for you? http://html5gameengine.com/
Breakouts – Helping you choose a JavaScript game engine http://city41.github.io/breakouts/

Other Resources

Articles and blogs about game development gamasutra.com
Forum html5gamedevs.com
Tutorials and articles html5gamedevelopment.com

Popular Engines

impactjs.com – commercial game dev engine
craftyjs.com – open source component/entity game engine
html5quintus.com – open source game engine

Other resources

Video game engines for young people ages 8 and up

Scratch: http://scratch.mit.edu/
Gamestar mechanic: http://gamestarmechanic.com/
Stencyl : http://stencyl.com/
Kodu: http://www.kodugamelab.com/About

Sell your game

MaRS Startup Library: Digital Gaming: http://www.cdmn.ca/mars-startup-library-digital-gaming/
Chasing the Whale: Examining the ethics of free-to-play games

Game Art Resources

UPDATE:
Big thanks to Jessica Lowe and her computer science class in California for recommending this resource

Programming Guide For Video-Gamers

Interested in sound, light, night and art?

August 15, 2013

by admin in Uncategorized

Those interested in art, sound and light might be interested in this opportunity to collaborate in a project from the Incubator Art Lab:

From today’s Daily News article from the University of Windsor

Jennifer Willet, a professor in the School for Arts and Creative Innovation, wants people to march in the Eco Nuit parade on October 5. The parade is part of the Scotiabank Nuit Blanche, an annual sunset-to-sunrise celebration of contemporary art.

In collaboration with the Ontario Science Centre’s !dea Gallery, the procession will be a parade of “local nocturnal ecology” that will “illuminate and reveal a menagerie of living organisms via digital media and phosphorescence,” according to Dr. Willet, who specializes in bio-art, and is director of the University’s Incubator lab.

Interested artists can make glow-in-the-dark costumes, and devices that emit sound and light. Marchers eager to join the parade will be given masks, streamers, noisemakers, and take-home lab experiments, Willet said.

The deadline for proposals is August 20th.