Special guests: Chris Bateman (Discworld Noir)
Games: http://www.screen7.co.uk/adventurex/exhibits.html
Tickets: http://adventurex.eventbrite.com
Yes, AdventureX is happening this year. December 17th & 18th.
M
Original 2003 adventureX thread (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=8038.0)
&
AdventureX website (http://www.screen7.co.uk/adventurex/)
So long as I can reach it via public transport or hitch-hiking in some weirdos car i'd come (I don't drive). If it's on a mainline out of London that's ideal for me, but I would say if it's any more than a 2/3 hours away for most people then it would need to be at least a two-day thing to make it worth the travelling time (assuming the event itself lasts a few hours)
I'm more than happy to travel anywhere accessible in the UK as I regularly go home to Scotland anyway but would likely stay overnight somewhere (which I would expect to pay for) if was going to take a long time to get there. Some local information about places to stay/transport would be useful for most folks if that was the case.
It's such a shame that this didn't work out before, but perhaps it was too ambitious originally. There's no point booking a large space if the public don't get interested and you need to factor in the cost of marketing. For something like this i'd gladly donate to a fund just to make it happen, whether I could attend or not, but again you'd need confirmed attendees/games in place to make the general public part with their cash. A small meet n' greet where you play plenty of demos and talk to other adventure game enthusiasts would be good. I can't see myself getting to (or qualifying for) any of the Mittens events in the forseeable future so it would be good to have something in the UK to look forward to. The guest talks are an added extra for me - i'd gladly welcome them if you can make it happen.
Hope I don't come across too negative. I am super-excited about seeing AdventureX in some form at some point so will gladly help make it happen however I can - donating, marketing materials like flyers etc.
Oh, and make it a weekend if possible as I have to work and i've booked in all my holidays for this year!
Nope your comments there are just fine, thanks straydogstrut! Appreciate it. I understand your reasoning on the 2 day thing for longer distance travellers. I can ask the venue about a Sat + Sun rental of the place no problem, but that would one up the price of the event a bit and two mean people staying would need to stay in a nearby city, ie Oxford (easily reached from Didcot, as is Reading or Swindon). I'm thinking Sat 10th Dec or Sat 17th, just before Xmas, and will ask about the possibility of it being 2 days. I also saw this particular venue has been in the media lately as it's struggling to get business, so something like this could really help them out and perhaps they'd agree to let us do it more often.
Realistically though, if it was two days it would not be possible at this stage to fly guests out from other countries. So I'd need to find willing people from the UK to cover both days, (I'm fairly positive Boakes and Cecil will still be interested). But as you say it IS more of a meet and greet with some interesting adventure gamey stuff thrown in. I've got plenty lined up for a fun packed day that could easily become two. I'm miffed it would be that little to hard to have a game-jam running at the same time, but that's another idea, for another day...
For this, it's just a matter of accomodation of guests if that's the case - cos I know people would want to stick around, but the hosting town has NO accomodation. The Premier Inn is 2 miles out of town and there's no bus service to it. I don't want to deal with accomodation booking (ie cost included in ticket) myself either. Sadly the town itself has no hotels, just a few B&B's. I will take a gander at venues in Oxford city though but I think I'll stumble across the same problems as the London idea if I start looking for "city" venues, which is why I'm eager to make it happen in a small (but accessable) town location. No matter what, the website would be updated with in-depth travel info and accomodation recommendations.
The venue I have in mind itself holds one single merit and that is that it is 30 seconds walk from the train station, on one of the London main lines. Beside that it really is just a pub with a function room. It's easy for me though as it's just a few miles down the road, and my friend who agreed to supply laptops & projectors for the London event lives in that town (Didcot). The town itself however is bleak, although there's a small multiplex cinema and some high street stores beyond that it's just a massive car park, with no history whatsoever. I think the only interesting story about it is a BA pilot who got sucked out of his window (but saved by colleagues) in a 747 above the town some years ago, and that took place 30,000 feet above it - quite rightly so too :P
As I mentioned previously though it really is only an hour, at most, from London by train. If you get a London > Slough > Reading > Didcot fast train though (at no extra cost) it can take 45 mins. Although getting a train ticket for two days would be quite expensive, the option to stay in London and travel each morning would be there, but I realize it wouldn't be that fun or money saving to do that. Staying in Oxford though would be a lot cheaper. There's a YHA right by the station, and plenty of hotels and B&B's too. If you can afford a lap of luxury though, I recommend staying in Oxford castle. It's pretty epic. And if you're smartly dressed, random members of the public will ask you questions as if you work there :P But yes people would need to amuse themselves if necessary, but considering adventure-x would be from 10am to 10pm both days (roughly) then people can always spend their time there.
I'm surprised at the interest it raised last time round and on reviewing the material and reservations it was quite intriguing to see just who planned on attending. So I've been more motivated to do it, and of course Mittens fever helps. I wouldn't ask for any donations, though I appreciate your offer there. I would rather it could fund itself from the off and if people pay anything it's just for a ticket. That way I know it could work again cost effectively. Luckily the majority of the setup now is not complicated, it's finding the right balance between a day trip and a 2 day event, and making sure people can make it.
Thanks again though for giving me some factors to think about :)
PS sorry if there are awful spelling mistakes. My auto spelling red line thing has disappeared :(
Venue info (http://www.uk-parties.co.uk/venuesox/38132.php)
Oh, and this town does have a new dedicated arts centre (see here (http://www.cornerstone-arts.org/8.id)) but that'd be expensive I'd imagine let alone the venue information link is broken.
It'd take me about 1hr 20 to get to Didcot Parkway, which in London is positively fast! I'd definitely like to show my support, however I am gearing up for a film shoot so it would depend on the dates.
Also I made up a witty quip about Didcot Parkway that Nelly thought was rubbish. You be the judge:
In Didcot Parkway from the train platform you can see a museum building, and painted on the side of it is "Didcot Parkway: Home of the Great Western Society". All in all, it's hard to see what Al Qaeda has against it.
Ha!! Yes its inhabitants are doomed from the offset, why waste time and effort fighting it! Mind you, apparently Bin Laden studied at Oxford and used to hang out there... Maybe he helped paint that museum sign :P HITLER wanted to make Oxford his UK capital. I'm wondering if these chaps perhaps had their sights set a few miles down the road on Didcot. Park. Way. I'm sure Nelly was positevly stumped by your "you need to have been to Didcot to get it" quip :P It took ME a few minutes. Current dates are weekend 10th Dec or 17th Dec. Providing all goes well on my venue visit on Monday, and I blag the dialogue puzzle lady convincingly.
I appreciate your support though Ali. You've always helped motivate me with this adventure-x shiznay! And I presume that is the book burning movie? Good luck with that. Are you actually burning an epic big pile of books? Thanks again.
I like the idea, but I'm unlikely to travel to London for just one day.
While there's no way on earth I'm ever getting there, it'd be great if you went ahead with this.
Even if it has a very humble beginning, I can only see something like this growing, as long as the initial impression isn't too lame. :P
It'd be two and a half hours for me, but I think that now I'm actually based in the UK, it's the kind of thing that'd be fun to do!
Radiant, Wonkyth, Technocrat - thanks! Your comments are duly noted 8)
I'm not sure exactly what it would mean for us, but...
http://www.cornerstone-arts.org/uploads/documents/Cornerstone%20Hire%20Charges.pdf
...these are the prices for the Cornerstone Arts thingy. If I'm reading it correctly, we could rent the auditorium for £400 a day?
Ah more updates, think I missed them because you used the edit thingy you little sneak;-)
@LimpingFish: Yeah, looks like it is to me. It looks pretty good actually. I know Mods is keen on that pub - and i'm all for helping out a struggling business - but the arts centre is one to consider if the event is big enough. Dunno what you think of the price? I don't know what's the average but it seems okay to me if we get anywhere near the 40-50 capacity of the other place, or someone feels especially generous=D Of course it becomes less reasonable if it becomes a two-day event. My holiday in two weeks cost less=D
That's the thing. The pub is more likely to waiver the fare and take into consideration our cause. The arts centre probably isn't. They're council funded, which usually = no way of bartering. I will pop into the pub and Cornerstone tomorrow. But as we've said...humble beginnings seem much more appropriate. And I'm less inclined to make an 'expo' of it, as barely anyone agreed to showcase their games over the last threads. But thanks for finding that info, Chris!!
As I said before I don't want people funding something that could essentially flop. And the Cornerstone arrangement could mean exactly that. Also, Cornerstone shutting at 4.30pm on Sunday isn't much help either. I'd rather the event went from late morning til early evening than early morning to late afternoon, for travellers sakes!
EDIT. Straydog ... thinking about it the Cornerstone price isn't too bad. If 40 people had a 2 day ticket that would cover the rental. I think last time I reached about 30 two day tickets, so it was close. But yes, it being affordable is paramount, and donations to make it happen...well, I'll think about it. Going to visit these places in a few mins :)
I'd definitely come! Just over 2 hours travel for me :).
Thanks Peder. I'm currently most interested in location #1, the smaller venue. It's a lot cheaper, there is actually quite a bit of space, it has a bar, they're happy for it to be on a Sat and Sun, too, and will stay open for as long as we need. Cornerstone was closed today, typically - but I'm less interested in that place. There's no on-site parking, I think an auditorium would be too big for our needs, as we won't be having exhibitor booths or anything. I also think their price is a bit of a rip off, and I'm not convinced it includes bar staff either. But yes, as far as I can tell - in terms of humble beginnings, it's very likely this will go ahead now in December. Watch this space :)
Not sure on the cost of travel for me, but i'm really not that far from London. I'm hesitant to confirm 100% as finding a job is taking it's toll but i'm sure i could find £50 before december to put aside for admission/travel. My main motive being MEETING MODS and any other members that attend. A pub sounds splendid ;)
Right. Cheers Chicky :P But yes I too am hoping some AGS people can come who don't normally attend Mittens and stuff.
Quote from: Mods on Wed 05/10/2011 00:44:53
Right. Cheers Chicky :P But yes I too am hoping some AGS people can come who don't normally attend Mittens and stuff.
I SAID I AM NOT COMING!!!
:P
On a serious note, I'd very much like to attend. If there's a standard date, that'd be good as well.
Ah, unfortunately Jim it's already sold out, and there's no more room at the inn. :P
As soon as I have a confirmed date I'll let you, and the thread know. Still waiting to hear back from the main boss lady of the place - then confirm some special guests.. so I should have a date within a fortnight. I'm pushing for 10/11 Dec or 17/18 Dec. But it'd be good if you could make it.
Goddamn venue people taking their sweet ass time.
Anyway, first guest confirmed! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Bateman)
Fuck I'm jealous now!
Hehe aww :P Save some pennies then! Unless you're in America I suppose. In which case just sob, and hold your own adventureX with ProgZMax :P
Speak of the devil though, the venue lady just emailed me back with "this sounds great". So everything looks sweet!
I'm really pleased to hear this is going ahead after a couple of false starts! ;)
If I can come, I think I probably will. :)
Chris Bateman is awesome btw, and a personal hero.
Great! Glad he appeals. I've never played Noir personally, but I have a copy sitting right here. Guess I should fire it up sometime. Plus the fact he delves into game making philosophy should make his presentation an interesting one!
Quote from: Mods on Wed 05/10/2011 16:55:00
Hehe aww :P Save some pennies then! Unless you're in America I suppose. In which case just sob, and hold your own adventureX with ProgZMax :P
Worse, I'm in Australia.
I'll have to rock it out with Ben and Cameron and the likes some time...sigh.
I was really happy to see the e-mail about this, I was thinking about it the other day. I think it'd be about 3 hours travel for me, but as long as I can work out the date I'm up for it!
Oh yes, I should probably post my interest in this. It will be a short trip for me so I'd definitely be up for attending. Whee!
If Dualnames is coming, I'd come as well. ;D
I live in Exeter, Devon, so it'd take me probably 4-5 hours to get to London... I'm not sure where to get off the coach to get to that 'secret pub location', but I'm sure I'd manage somehow. Maybe I can get somebody to drive me?...
I think it's a really good idea. Like Mittens, but more serious I guess.
Also, I didn't know Mods was a Brit? ;)
Thanks azure, matt and Grim! It'd be good to have you all visit.
Grim - you'd probably want to go to Didcot via Bristol/Bath. By train, if you went via London, you'd be going past the location and then back on yourself.
Yes indeed, special guest Jim Spanos...will he, won't he? Nobody knows! BUNNDLEEE!
A small note - C. Cecil is going to be too busy (working on a new production). But kindly Mr Stein of fanadventures.de is checking out some other guests. As it would be good to have someone come on the Sunday (as Mr Bateman is confirmed for the saturday).
I'd love to come somehow - unfortunately it's much more than 2-4 hours away from where I live. Maybe another time.
Quote from: Ascovel on Thu 13/10/2011 13:45:44
I'd love to come somehow - unfortunately it's much more than 2-4 hours away from where I live. Maybe another time.
It's less than 2 hours flight, if you're coming from Poland ( which is where you live, I assume... ;)) And these days you wouldn't pay more than £100 for a return ticket... so maybe it's worth thinking about it? ;)
Quote from: Wonkyth on Thu 06/10/2011 01:56:51
Quote from: Mods on Wed 05/10/2011 16:55:00
Hehe aww :P Save some pennies then! Unless you're in America I suppose. In which case just sob, and hold your own adventureX with ProgZMax :P
Worse, I'm in Australia.
I'll have to rock it out with Ben and Cameron and the likes some time...sigh.
Bah. I travelled to Ireland from Australia for mittens this year. And Ben lives in the boonies. I'm not going over to the other side of Australia.
Quote from: Layabout on Sun 16/10/2011 06:05:19
Bah. I travelled to Ireland from Australia for mittens this year. And Ben lives in the boonies. I'm not going over to the other side of Australia.
I went to Melbourne last year and caught up with Xenogia - if there ever was an AGS meetup over that end of Australia I'd be willing to fly over for it, provided it was for more than a single day.
And of course you could always compile a demo/preview of your latest game to be shown at this one :)
I realize this would be fairly impractical money wise for a lot of people. Especially with a hotel or something on top. Under special circumstances I can certainly provide a sofa for a couple of people if you want to come but don't want to pay for accomodation somewhere. But it would mean you'd need to be happy to help out a bit ;)
Tickets are on sale now, though I haven't updated the website. You can get one at
http://adventurex.eventbrite.comThere is no reason to purchase one yet, especially as guests (beside Mr Bateman) and the games on show are pending still. I've just made the option available. I've decided on a single price that will allow you to visit on either day or both. And I'm pretty set with 17th & 18th Dec.
There is a small processing fee. But get yourself a pound off with the following discount code.
Spoiler
ONIONRINGS11
If you recently got an email from me about AdventureX, please don't buy a ticket just yet, for reasons explained in the next email coming your way at the end of October!
Providing a minimum of 25 people buy tickets online prior to the event it can definitely go ahead, otherwise the venue cost won't be covered. But I'm starting at 'home' first, with the AGS community, and will announce this further afield around the end of October.
If it all flops, refunds will be available at roughly 80% of what you will have paid (due to processing fees and the fact I'll have bought paper plates by then). I'm also working on getting discount codes from various adventure game companies for attendees.
Again - if anyone has a game that is
partly playable, whether it's in demo form, or just a few rooms - and you're happy for me to preview it (let people play it) at the event please get in touch! Particularly interested in games that will be coming out IN December or beyond 2011, but any moderately new game will be added to the computer-o-games for people to play. Thanks! Oh and if you fancy giving a chat about a topic relating to adventure games please get in touch. Any questions you can PM me or email me mark at screen7.co.uk :=
Quote from: Grim on Sun 16/10/2011 01:43:53
Quote from: Ascovel on Thu 13/10/2011 13:45:44
I'd love to come somehow - unfortunately it's much more than 2-4 hours away from where I live. Maybe another time.
It's less than 2 hours flight, if you're coming from Poland ( which is where you live, I assume... ;)) And these days you wouldn't pay more than £100 for a return ticket... so maybe it's worth thinking about it? ;)
Thinking is entirely free of charge, so I'll definitely think about it. Especially while baking. :)
Quote from: Mods on Tue 18/10/2011 22:08:01
If you recently got an email from me about AdventureX, please don't buy a ticket just yet, for reasons explained in the next email coming your way at the end of October!
No email for me :'( so I can go ahead and buy a ticket?? The switch to a two-day thing is a awesome :o
I've had a look at the trains and the times/fares seem good enough for me to make a whole weekend of it and stay over in Oxford if I can find somewhere. I'm not that bothered about how late I get back on the sunday, so long as I can make it into work in the morning!
Just flew back into the country last night so a bit skint after my holiday, but pay day hits this friday so I will likely settle things then. If anyone else is thinking of staying over/has any recommendations give us a holler :)
I'm in, of course! \o/
Let me know as soon as I can buy a ticket!
Thanks for your comments guys, just a few more essential PM's to send out before it's all completely official. I'll add you to the email list straydog. My main worry is still how people can stick around, or get somewhere safely, affordably - if they intend to stay a night or two. New little things are that Yahtzee will be giving his opinion on adventure games in audio form and TellTale are interested in sending something pretty over. Everyone who buys a ticket online and turns up will get a free 'AdventureX' pen because free pens are cool for your inventory pocket. I'm still trying to sort games to show and special guests but those are the essential PM's I hope to have sent in the next couple of days. I'll let you know! Fresh thread and stuff :)
Damn if only I didn't live in the states and have a more than full time job! Record it or something :=
Looking forward to my free pen!
Oh and add me to mailing list, kthnx :)
cs.chicken@gmail.com
Quote from: Diath on Wed 26/10/2011 09:03:42
Damn if only I didn't live in the states and have a more than full time job! Record it or something :=
D'oh! Aye a rather large expensive pond in the way :( Will try to record it somehow. I'm sure someone will bring a camera. LimpingFish could add it to his archive of video of "AGS people milling about"...!
QuoteLooking forward to my free pen!
Oh and add me to mailing list, kthnx Smiley
cs.chicken@gmail.com
Will do!
And thanks to everyone who's recently replied to me about the games. The list is looking great:
http://www.screen7.co.uk/adventurex/exhibits.html
Still lots to add and remember to get in touch with me if you have a game!
Awesome, i get to play Egress :D
Yes! It comes with a free promotional egg and cress sandwich :=
How did I miss this thread? So glad it's going ahead again.
I need to rejig my finances first, but I'm more than interested in coming along.
I'll probably have nothing to show, but it should be an awesome weekend.
As they say, it's only a quick joyride from Newcastle... But good stuff Stu. Hopefully can make it cheaper next time when there's more understanding of just how many people might come.
EDIT. Added a few more games. Thanks to the developers!
Quote from: Mods on Thu 27/10/2011 18:37:45
Yes! It comes with a free promotional egg and cress sandwich :=
If I was attending I would hold you to this :D
Hope this goes down as a success, jealous that I haven't yet emigrated to England because Leafshade and I aren't getting married until next year :'(
Next time Ben, next time. We can put the wedding reception style venue to full use :=
And thanks for your contribution!
Hehe another special guest speaker our very own Ali Beckett :D
Also waiting on an answer from CJ... :=