AdventureX 2011 roundup

[m0ds]

Mods' Roundup!

AdventureX for 2011 has come and gone. Watch this space for my full report! Special thanks to Chris Bateman, Neil Rennison, Chris Jones and Alasdair Beckett-King for their wonderful talks, some pretty eye opening stuff... Thanks also to Yahtzee for making a funny audio clip and Simon Love for playing a wonderful set of videogame medley's. Thank you of course to Joe and Sophie (boneyard audio) and James and Jack (infamous adventures), not forgetting Stuart and Sam (lightbulb games) who looked the part on Saturday. It was great to see some stalls at this first event! I could go on and name everyone because I AM thankful for all who turned up, sorry if I didn't say much to you - it was busy times, and I would have loved to have sat around and chatted a bit more... But I really do appreciate your support of this "trial run"

SATURDAY

Saturday morning was cold, wet & icy. After an hours sleep the night before (due to prepping time) I awoke in a groggy haze, but Charlie arrived early and we had his car packed quickly. After a quick stop at Tesco and a revitalizing cup of tea, we went on to the venue and quickly started to set up. Before long the guests were arriving and I was still setting some things up for the first hour of the event.

Will was the first to turn up, representing Cubed Gamers and gaining experience for journalism. Others followed shortly and after all the final checks the show kicked off with a video about an experimental adventure game called S3nses. The video by Tom spoke of the game which is set from a blind persons perspective. After this game showcasing begun, and our first prize draw took place with Matt winning a copy of The Book of Unwritten Tales.

As more people tickled in - some who turned up on the spot - the showcasing continued. Before long Chris Bateman arrived and shortly after so did Neil Rennison. Although some guests were held up in traffic, and one suffering a car breakdown just outside the venue - Neil kicked off the talks to a good crowd, with enthusiasm and interesting information on how his company and its strategy have developed. His key points were getting your name out there, marketting yourself and your brand to be sure to succeed.

He later explained how next year was very important for his company, with a lot of key projects in the pipeline including the rights to produce a Judge Dredd game book. We wish him all the best and were glad to hear he had enjoyed AdventureX. Neil had connections with the local area so perhaps we will see him at another one! His speech was followed by Chris Bateman.

Chris was pleased to deliver his first ever speech about Discworld Noir. He explained the origins of the story and a few tales from working with voice actors. He detailed Perfect Entertainment and how after the work was done, the team would end up in the pub on most nights. After that, he told us his views on the death of adventures with an in-depth look at the use of an audiences imagination in terms of defining where popularity in a game genre might fade and grow, particularly how the imagination of a player is exploited through visual aspects. He also plugged his new book, so be sure to get a copy!

Once he had finished Chris had to shoot off, but we were very pleased he could visit and we were glad to accomodate his speech about Discworld Noir and game making philosophy. Another prize draw followed and Azure's friend Spike won a copy of Gray Matter. Tales of Monkey Island was later won by Daniel.  The demonstrations continued, Technocrat giving us a brief insight into his new game The Rail. This was followed by Stu who spoke out about his Entrapment demo and the AGS Bake Sale. Another prize draw saw Technocrat win a copy of Back To The Future: The Game, thanks to TellTale Games.

Near the end of the evening Yahtzee's audio clip was played and raised a few laughs, and before the event ended Joe of Boneyard Audio explained aloud what it is he does and how he can help game makers with audio. Most departed after that, the lights were turned off and a few remained downstairs to have a few drinks. I was back home by 9pm and went straight to bed! The adventure would continue tomorrow...


Some pics from Saturday:




SUNDAY

After a good long sleep, Sunday morning was bright and calm, but cold. After collecting sandwiches from my mothers house I made my way to Didcot on the bus, the chimney's of the power station were spewing steam (and toxic chemicals) and in the cold morning sun looked epic. Today was going to be more relaxed, there was no setting up to do and I had a better idea of how to run proceedings. The Infamous Adventures lads were there early and set up their desk to promote the Space Quest 2 Remake. As guests trickled in once more, their table was very popular throughout the day.

To wake everyone up we started with Murran Chronicles 3, it's intro making sure everyone was wide awake. Alasdair Beckett and his fiancé Rachel (aka Nelly Cootalot) had arrived and were drawn to the screen and Ali began reading the lines of dialogue from various games being showcased, giving everyone a good chuckle. Because I suck at solving adventure puzzles, the crowd of AdventureXrs helped me solve various puzzles. Ask A Monkeyologist went down well with its humor and voice acting. Wretcher seen being played on the corner computer and Magintz kept himself busy working on a game project.

By mid-afternoon Chris Jones arrived and soon after delivered a speech about AGS, his background and future. Explaining how the engine was devised as a way for HIM to make a point & click adventure, he told us how early and minimal feedback geared him up to work on the engine and make improvements. He explained the three versions, but also how his commitments in real life have led him to take a step back from working on the engine. We wish Chris the best for the future! Simon Loveridge turned up with his large keyboard and proceeded to play a set of medleys, including Super Mario and Metroid music, finishing with a Zelda Medley. It was very well played and moving, so thanks to Simon!

Alasdair Beckett-King took to the stage with a funny presentation about his work on Nelly Cootalot 2. One point he covered that excited the guests was his progression from 3D characters to a rather more pleasing look for the sequel. We must thank him for showing us exclusive material and delivering a great presentation! Just before he and Rachel had to leave, we played the Yahtzee audio clip (not to everyone's liking!) but again it was enjoyed by those who hadn't heard it previously. From here the Sunday edition wound down, Chris and Ali had gone home and others were departing.

By 7.30 the hall was empty, and so I packed everything up and had a final pint and a game of pool downstairs before heading home. Thanks to Birkey who helped me get all the equipment from the car back into my flat. And that's where it ended, a whole 2 days of adventure-goodness, plenty of projects to see that I know helped inspire others to begin their journey on creating adventure games. The days winners included both Joe and Rachel who won a copy of the Book of Unwritten Tales, followed by Rebecca and Steve who won copies of 15 Days. Two people won Tales of Monkey Island and two people one a copy of Gray Matter, but I forgot to write down who Some other old games were dished out as prizes, although I apologise to the chap who won the boxed quadrilogy with no CD's in it...

So that was it for year 1 of AdventureX. There was a lot to learn, but at the same time a lot of positive feedback enough to consider doing it again in 2012. It was great to see everyone and I hope people got something out of it, everything came together in the end to make a fun weekend. In the future, it would certainly need a little better structure, ideally some better equipment and more games machines - but the venue served us well, the bar was cheap and despite not realising the street to the venue was "No Entry" people managed to find their way to it easily. I certainly had a great time, so thank you for that! It was a mission trying to remember everyone's names but I hope I didn't offend anyone... My big apology is certainly to Jim Riley whose game A Hard Day's Knight I had not put on the machines.

That sums it up. Make sure you come to the next one, which will hopefully be arranged for a time more suitable for travellers. Lots of material still in the works to be dished out - so keep an eye out for updates here and of course, if you're recieving the newsletter - you'll get a first look.


Some pics from Sunday:



FULL LIST OF GAMES SHOWN (thank you to the developers!):
Egress: Test Of STS 417
Doc Apocalypse (rolling demo)
A Night At Camp Ravenwood (rolling demo)
The Visitor
The Visitor 2 (preview)
Wretcher
Byrne In Hell
Unga Needs Mumba
Roadworks
The Philanthropist
The Rail
City (demo)
Ben Jordan 8 (preview + trailer)
Then We Were Angels
He Watches
Quasar
Murran Chronicles 3
Far Corners of the World chapter 1
Venator
Timeless Journey (demo)
Ask A Monkeyologist
Reality on the Norm: Night And Day
Kinky Island
Fountain of Youth (tech tests)
11-11-11
Entrapment
Nelly Cootalot 2 (preview)
Space Quest 2 Remake

FULL LIST OF EXHIBITORS & SUPPORTERS:
Lightbulb Games.co.uk
Infamous Adventures.com
Boneyard Audio.com
Screen7.co.uk
Gamebook Adventures.com

PRIZE WINNERS:
Back To The Future The Game (courtesy of TellTale Games): James Dearden (Technocrat) & Will Ross
Book Of Unwritten Tales: Tier, Joe Gilder, Nelly Cootalot
Gray Matter: Magintz (and two others, didn't write down who)
15 Days: Spike, Azure, Steve Violich
Tales of Monkey Island: straydogstrut (and two others, didn't write down who)

STAY-AT-HOME PRIZE WINNERS (courtesy of Lace Mamba Global):
Book of Unwritten Tales: Peder Johnsen
Gray Matter: Armageddon
Tales of Monkey Island: Stuart Forbes
15 Days: Rikard Peterson

VISITORS:
Saturday - 29 people
Sunday - 19 people
Stay-At-Home - 10 people
Complimentary: 4 people
Total: 62
Videos being added below!

MEDIA:
New Alasdair Beckett-King full talk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2KlPRIB7WI
Chris Jones full talk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20pYaVjAV98
Yahtzee "adventure game retrospective" recorded especially for A-X 2011: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpNSlzk80HY
Saturday short clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9x4oFKI24Q


ARTICLES
Cubed Gamers article http://www.cubedgamers.com/home/2012/01/03/adventure-x-2011/
Cubed Gamers interview with Chris Bateman http://www.cubedgamers.com/home/2011/12/20/an-interview-with-chris-bateman/
The Reticule article http://www.thereticule.com/adventurex-2011/
Adventure Gamers perspective: http://www.adventuregamers.com/articles/view/18648

[m0ds]

2 tickets sold (read it and weep teh Matthew Frith!1) .. 18 more and we have an event! Woop

[Matt Frith]

I have bought my ticket! (read it and weep teh mork lovegroove!1one).  Just got to make that demo now.... ahem!

[Stee]

I'd love to go but pre xmas events arent good when money is tight. Just thought I'd share my 2p if it's worth anything. I'll probably be down in London come new year visiting friends if anyone wants to meet up

[m0ds]

No problem, I realize it's not the most convinient time of year, but its certainly the only AGS xmas gathering I'll be going to Maybe another time? Maybe early in the new year next time.. And thanks Matt!! Haha, made me chuckle seeing your order:)

[Technocrat]

Consider me involved!

[m0ds]

Considered Please send me a screenshot!

[Technocrat]

Can do, tomorrow morning!

[straydogstrut]

Yeah, feeling the pinch already and it's only early November

But to hell with it, the family's getting a lump of coal for Christmas.

Got my accommodation sorted - in Didcot itself so I can stagger back from the pub - trains booked and i've just bought my AdventureX pass. My partner's coming up to spend a couple of days in Oxford while I enjoy this thing

Well done on organising all this so far Mark, and for the website too which seems to be brimming with more adventure-gamey goodness since i last checked. On with the show!

[m0ds]

Great, thank you!! Good that you have made a thing of it - Oxford is certainly good for a bit of tourism I hope the accomodation is good - look forward to seeing you there!

C. Bateman has blogged about his appearance at the event, so that's confirmed that quite nicely 

[m0ds]

Added a Day Ticket to try and increase sales, so peeps can visit on just one day. You can still use ONIONRINGS11 with it to get a discount

[cat]

Is there going to be some "Stay at home" ticket? You could record the live talks on video and offer them as a download after the event.

[m0ds]

I'm sure it'll be videoed to a degree, but that doesn't really help build a budget for the event to happen in the first place

But yeah, I see what you mean about a 'can't make it' ticket... Hmm.

[Azure]

I booked, I'm looking into hotels and stuff now. Anyone got any recommendations?

[cat]

I'm sure it'll be videoed to a degree, but that doesn't really help build a budget for the event to happen in the first place

Well, if it is of any help, I could buy such a ticket before the event to help funding and get the video afterwards.

[m0ds]

Hi cat, it's a good idea - I still need to think about it, and the extra setup + effort it would involve. A live event over the net with video etc would be fantastic, but as that wouldn't be possible this time round, I think it's more appropriate to just stick any videos that get made on the website for free. And not to mention most of the games on show will be out in due course  8) I really like the concept but my hands are tied this time round with just getting tables and chairs... Maybe in the future, if the event is succesful and repeats, there can be more of a team so things like live streams can be arranged! That said, I will still look into costs behind your idea over the coming days. I'd need to sell about 40-50 tickets to consider any kind of conferencing setup. Next time round it might be worth doing an indiegogo funding thing alongside it. Just depends how popular/necessary it is for such an event in the future

Azure - awesome, thanks! I'd recommend Ibis hotel in Reading for cheapest, premier inn Didcot for closest - or blag a friend from the area? You could look around for a b&b in Didcot? straydogstrut found a place in Didcot itself. The hotels I could find are on the "map" page of the website. Any major problems send me an email. See you there!

[m0ds]

Right cat! And anyone else who wants to "stay at home" but enjoy the benefits of AdventureX, I've decided to trial cat's idea to a degree whereby apart from the eventbrite fee, you can get goodies from the event for yourself for an amount of your choosing. I can see good things with it, but I can see problems. Hence why it's a trial. No matter though, you can still be refunded no matter how much you donate to your stay at home ticket.

http://adventurex.eventbrite.co.uk/

Of course, a pound or two means the show can be even better, and there can be even more content to send your way "offline". My concern is not to make the benefits of staying at home TOO good, otherwise no-one will come

Oh and I realize the ticket fee is a bit crummy. Next time round when I'm more confident with the way it all works I'll use the PayPal method. The ticket fee is basically covering my ass with technical help and stuff, and means refunds can be dealt with very easily. Also, it was the only way I could get an advance payout (to be able to pay the event bar staff, etc).

[m0ds]

Chris Jones of AGS land will be making a guest appearance on Sunday. He only cost $500,000. Oh no wait, that was a tunnel in transport tycoon.

[Technocrat]

Chris Jones of AGS land will be making a guest appearance on Sunday. He only cost $500,000. Oh no wait, that was a tunnel in transport tycoon.

The man himself?!  :o   Well then, I shall definitely atte...oh wait I'm already coming

[Armageddon]

Someone better film this, I must hear his voice!

[m0ds]

I'm not saying do it, get to the chopper - but if anyone is on the verge of getting a ticket, doing it today would really help the event out. I say that because the ticket system I'm using (but won't next time, most likely) cut off point for a payment that will fund the event is midnight tonight. The next payment they will make is after the event, despite me asking them to move it forward a few days, they simply cannot.

So if you want the videos, the Yahtzee audio clips, various emails with developer interviews for yourself & your name in the prize draw - please get a ticket or a stay at home ticket (which could cost you no more than £2). You can also get a ticket using PayPal - just PM me.

That said - the event is definitely happening: But I admit, it's happening on the minimal amount it could be done for, I have not reached the desired target for tickets, but I'm certainly not going to turn everyone away.

Many thanks!

[m0ds]

Thank you kind folk!! You know who you are

And now - you can FACEBOOK IT! Maybe. If I set the restrictions up correctly.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/AdventureX-graphic-adventure-game-expo/283748635000877

[Stupot]

I'm gutted but I won't be able to make it.  Funds are tighter than I'd expected and it'd just not doable :'(
I will get a stay at home ticket though, and add something to the kitty. I should do that in the next hour, shouldn't I?

[m0ds]

Thank you Mr Pot! And other kind people. Yes, your timing was fine - thanks to everyone who gave to the kitty today. Some material will be with you kind people very soon, and then of course - the show will be on 

[m0ds]

Sent out a newsletter tonight via Eventbrite. If you have a spare moment to let me know if you got it or not, that would sort out my beta-testing brain quite a bit. Many thanks  

[Stupot]

Got it. Cheers man.  Good read

[bicilotti]

Got it.

[Chicky]

I'm trying to sort out funds. I'll be there whatever but man am i skint.

[cat]

Interesting read, thanks!

[m0ds]

Grreat - glad it worked! Thanks for letting me know 

[m0ds]

Would you believe it, bicilotti has kindly donated his AdventureX Pass to the cause. Because he's stuck in Italy during this event, he would like YOU to come along on his behalf!

So, there is one full ticket up for grabs.

And, because of his generosity, I'll get someone else a Stay At Home ticket for free.

So, if you can attend, for one day or two, and want a FREE ticket - tell me, WHY IS BICILOTTI SO DAMN COOL? The best answer, as chosen by the big man himself, will get a free ticket.

If you cannot attend, but still want a stay at home ticket, all you need to do is tell me in LESS THAN 10 WORDS why Adventure games are DEFINITELY not dead! The best answer, again, chosen by bicilotti (not that he knows this!) by the end of the week.

Post your answers in this thread, and good luck!!

[Armageddon]

I would like to try out for the stay at home ticket!

Adventure games are awesome and we have a great community.

I was going to say 'Tim Shafer isn't dead'. But, eh...

[Chicky]

Woo finally got money. I'll be there for CJ and Ali on the Sunday 

[m0ds]

Thanks chicken! And good luck Armageddon

[m0ds]

An update on AdventureX for December 8th:

On Saturday we will be joined by Neil Rennison of Tin Man Games who will talk to us about Gamebook Adventures, his successful iPad 'choose your own adventure'  games which recently picked up Judge Dredd/2000AD rights. Prizes have also been kindly supplied by Lace Mamba Global for this years event, which include copies of Tales of Monkey Island, Gray Matter, The Book of Unwritten Tales and 15 Days. One or two lucky people will also win a free game from TellTale Games Inc. !

For anyone who cannot attend in person - perhaps you'd be interested in getting a "stay at home" ticket. You will be sent the newsletter, all the video interviews from the event and other special things. You will also be put into the online prize draw! You can also show your support for this years event this way - and as such choose how much you're willing to pay for the ticket. If you don't want to use Eventbrite, just visit the "tickets" page and scroll down for info on obtaining an e-ticket using PayPal.

Thanks again for your kind support

AGS developers:

Very exciting stuff so thanks to everyone who's helping in some kind of way. I'll be sending out a PM hopefully later today to remind everyone who has agreed to send a build to the event. The deadline on that is next Thursday at the very latest, so feel free to PM me a version or email mark at screen7.co.uk the URL details. Thank YOU for taking part and answering interview questions and stuff! Yay!   You will of course be sent your fair share of material from the event over Christmas as a thank you.

Anyone else with any kind of AGS build is welcome to send it over, if you're not tied down into another specific contract already I'll do my best to show it at the event, and of course - I'd like to help give you that little extra exposure.

Why exhibit your build?
1. Demonstrate your game to others
2. Get your game mentioned in the media
3. Help show that the genre is alive
4. Show off all your neat code & tricks
5. Build business relationships
6. Meet/learn about other developers
7. Share your interest with others
8. Raise awareness of your products
9. Learn your customer/player needs
10. Meet your fans!

[Peder 🚀]

Bought a stay at home ticket!

I was gonna ask, are there no type of government funds etc for these type of things over here in the UK?
I guess it is something you should check out for the next one if you haven't already done so .

[Ponch]

Is this weekend too late to buy a stay at home ticket? Christmas shopping has tapped me out and I'll have to wait until my next payday if I'm going to have more than two shiny pennies to donate. 

[straydogstrut]

On Saturday we will be joined by Neil Rennison of Tin Man Games who will talk to us about Gamebook Adventures, his successful iPad 'choose your own adventure'  games

Particularly looking forward to this. I haven't played any of these games yet but the concept makes me all nostalgic :'(

You will be sent the newsletter

So far, this alone has been worth the ticket price. The newsletters are awesome, especially the developer spotlights. I thoroughly enjoyed yesterday's one with NickyNyce I demand more! MORE!

[m0ds]

The newsletters are awesome

Haha great, glad you've enjoyed them so far. The same can't be said about the formatting, but oh well, at least they contain information. And I agree, the Gamebooks stuff is intriguing - new to me, so I'm interested too! Thanks sir!

Is this weekend too late to buy a stay at home ticket?

Not at all Ponchypoo - they will be available up until the event itself. Thanks. I totally understand the Xmas shopping thing!

are there no type of government funds etc

Wa-hoot thanks Peder! No government funds I know of, it would have to be an arts programme - I could probably find a way to qualify, but it would still take months to secure it and even then it would most likely be on a list of 10 other things and only 1 would get funded.

Cheers for your replies!

[Tenacious Stu]

I'll now be attending on the Saturday and bringing a demo of the Bake Sale game Entrapment along with me. I'm looking forward to meeting up with other developers 

Just wanted to say a thank you to m0ds for organising the event, it's a big step for AGS developers and fans of the games.

[m0ds]

Great! Updating the AdventureX website later after a family meal.

Armageddon - I think you win that stay at home ticket by default...please PM me your first name, last name & email address. Thanks!!

[Broomie]

Hello all, Infamous Adventures will be at the event as well presenting Space Quest II on the big screen. Be awesome to see a bunch of you down here and Space Quest II will be playable at the event. Be great to get some early opinions and such but importantly it'll be nice to have a good turnout. I've always liked the idea of an adventure game convention so big props to m0ds for organising it.

[magintz]

I'll be coming along as well. Need to check my calendar as I may only be able to come on the Saturday. I've also posted a link to this on my IGDA (Independent Game Developers Association) forum in the hopes some people can't resist the chance to meet the dreamy Christopher Quentin Jones.

Within 5 minutes it already got a facebook like, so that's some serious s**t. I hope the venue can cope with the rush of ticket sales you're bout to get

[m0ds]

Cheers Mr Cheers-holm... I think your actions may have sold a ticket! Woohoo! But thanks, and good to see you there at some point! CJ's autograph fee is 1 million...onion rings.

[magintz]

You're welcome Marky Mark

I just purchased my tickets. I will be there for two days.

[Technocrat]

Right, I've finally got my business cards all set for this! They'll include The Rail with them as well, so prod me for one while you're there!

[m0ds]

Great!! I got a bit held up yesterday but am "on it" today. Website is updated, get in touch with me today if you think I need to add anything else? Another newsletter a bit later on, with a sample from Yahtzee's speech And the all important, overly late reminder to developers to send me their builds in a wee while.

[Wonkyth]

I got a Stay At Home Ticket. I'm assume that has the same functionality as a Bum Around Ticket?
There wasn't the latter, so I'm hoping it will still work. =P

[m0ds]

I got a Stay At Home Ticket. I'm assume that has the same functionality as a Bum Around Ticket?
There wasn't the latter, so I'm hoping it will still work. =P

It is indeed Thank you! Just keep an eye on your emails!

M

[m0ds]

Any games, playable or rolling demos please send them to me by Friday mid-day GMT! mark@screen7.co.uk
(or link me in a PM) and thanks to everyone who already has, woo!

[Cirius]

I'll be there, representing www.thereticule.com, and I can't wait.

Much respect is due for Mark for actually putting this one together, and for everyone who's actually submitting a build to the event.

I look forward to meeting everyone.

Nick

[Technocrat]

The Rail is finished, build is sent in, let's get this party started! (in two days)

[Igor Hardy]

Wish you a great time guys! I hope it will only the first AdventureX in a longer series, so I can join in in the future.

[m0ds]

Thank you Igor! I hope it can blossom from here on too

Thank you Technocrat, great to have you make a game in time for AdventureX!!

And thanks Nick - nice to know who it is you're representing.

See you all at the weekend! Looking forward to it

[Azure]

See you all then, I managed to convince two other friends to come as well  

[m0ds]

Good stuff, thanks Azure!

Note to developers: I've moved the deadline forward a bit to 6pm tonight as things have gone pretty smoothly. Appreciate everyone who struggled to get something to me for 12 (Ethan - it's not too late )

[cat]

Too bad I can't be there. I hope you will keep us updated what is happening via newsletters or you might even tell us on irc what's going on.

[straydogstrut]

Hopefully heading off to catch the train to Didcot in less than an hour so the excitement/nervousness is mounting!

How many confirmed attendees do we have now?

[Azure]

Too bad I can't be there. I hope you will keep us updated what is happening via newsletters or you might even tell us on irc what's going on.

Perhaps we need to get a #adventureX going on on twitter, so we can tweet about the day and stay at home people can contribute?

[m0ds]

heading off to catch the train to Didcot in less than an hour so the excitement/nervousness is mounting!

Best oxymoron I've ever read! But have a safe journey, and enjoy your evening in Didcot. I'll be at the venue from 10am, see you tomorrow!

Perhaps we need to get a #adventureX going on on twitter, so we can tweet about the day and stay at home people can contribute?

That would be great. Sadly there isn't going to be internet access per se so it's whatever you can do to aquire connectivity. I'm pretty sure the venue doesn't have wifi, but tweeting from smart phones is a good idea. But any suggestions or if anything needs to be set up feel free to do it or let me know if help is needed!

Of course, a roundup will be sent to ticket buyers on Sat evening and Sun evening, with full reports during the week leading up to Christmas (and beyond, I'm sure). As much material as possible will come your way.

Stay at home tickets end THIS Sunday so if you still want the material exclusively do get one, or better still, come along!

Edit: Between 20-30 people over the two days (Sunday will probably be busier)

[Azure]

I have a smart phone  so I can tweet a bit as long as there's a signal,  have plenty of bandwidth this month too. I guess all we'd need do is mention to people to use it if they are tweeting ( possibly a mention in the newsletter?)
I'll be tweeting from @azuresama and have made my account public so anyonr who searches for the hashtag will be able to see it.

[m0ds]

Cool! Never used twitter myself or had a smartphone, so I'll leave all that hashtagging stuff up to you folks I can make it official in tonights newsletter if you tell me what I need to put? #adventurex ??

The rough schedule...

Saturday
11:00      Doors open
11:15      ---
11:30      Video/tutorial   S3nses
11:45      GAME      11-11-11
12:00      GAME      Quasar
12:15      GAME      Murran Chronicles Episode 3
12:30      GAME      Far Corners of the World Part 1
12:45      GAME      Venator
12:55      PRIZE DRAW #1
13:00      GAME      Egress: Test of STS 417
13:15      GAME      He Watches
13:30      GAME      The Visitor & The Visitor 2 preview
13:45      GAME      Ask A Monkeyologist   
14:00      GAME      Reality on the Norm: Night And Day
14:15      GAME      Doc Apocalypse
14:30      SPECIAL   Neil Rennison â€" Tin Man Games
14:45      ---
14:55      PRIZE DRAW #2
15:00      GAME      Timeless Journey
15:15      GAME      A Night At Camp Ravenwood
15:30      GAME      Then We Were Angels
15:45      GAME      Automaticity
16:00      GAME      Wretcher
16:15      GAME      Byrne In Hell
16:30      SPECIAL   Chris Bateman â€" Discworld Noir
16:45      ---
16:55      PRIZE DRAW #3
17:00      GAME      Unga Needs Mumba
17:15      GAME      Roadworks & An Unkindness Of Ravens
17:30      GAME      The Philanthropist
17:45      GAME      Stuart Lilford with Entrapment
18:00      SPECIAL   Yahtzee â€" An Adventure Retrospective
18:15      GAME      The Rail
18:30      GAME      City
18:45      GAME      Ben Jordan 8: Relics of the Past
19:00      PRIZE DRAW #4, COMPETITION RESULTS, CLOSE DOWN





SCHEDULE

Sunday
11:00      Doors open
11:15      Video/tutorial   S3nses
11:30      GAME      11-11-11
11:45      GAME      Quasar
12:00      GAME      Murran Chronicles Ep. 3
12:15      GAME      Far Corners of the World Part 1
12:30      GAME      Timeless Journey
12:45      GAME      Egress: Test of STS 417
12:55      PRIZE DRAW #1
13:00      GAME      He Watches
13:15      GAME      The Visitor & The Visitor 2 preview
13:30      GAME      Ask A Monkeyologist & Venator
13:45      GAME      Reality On The Norm: Night And Day
14:00      GAME      Doc Apocalypse
14:15      GAME      A Night At Camp Ravenwood
14:30      SPECIAL   Chris Jones - AGS
14:45      ---
14:55      PRIZE DRAW #2
15:00      GAME      Then We Were Angels
15:15      GAME      Automaticity
15:30      GAME      Wretcher
15:45      GAME      Byrne In Hell
16:00      GAME      Unga Needs Mumba
16:15      GAME      Roadworks & An Unkindness Of Ravens
16:30      SPECIAL   Alasdair Beckett-King â€" Nelly Cootalot
16:45      ---
16:55      PRIZE DRAW #3
17:00      GAME      The Philanthropist
17:15      GAME      The Rail
17:30      GAME      James Broom with Space Quest 2 remake
17:45      GAME      City
18:00      SPECIAL   Yahtzee â€" An Adventure Retrospective
18:15      GAME      Ben Jordan 8: Relics of the Past
18:30            Simon Love plays computer game classics
18:45            AdventureX Charity Auction
19:00      PRIZE DRAW #4, COMPETITION RESULTS, CLOSE DOWN

[Stupot]

Epic!  Really glad this is going ahead, even though I can't come.

Have an awesome weekend guys.  I'll be following #adventurex so y'all better get your tweet on.

[Azure]

Just ask anyone with a twitter account to use the hastag #adventurex when they tweet. It essentially tags the tweets, so people can filter for related tweets. 

[Tabata]

Wishing you a great time over there this weekend â€" have a lot of fun!       

[m0ds]

Thank you Tabata!

This is my final update, just to say thank you for showing support - and it's not too late to get a ticket (or a stay at home ticket if you want all the online goodies). The show starts in just over 12 hours, at which point we'll be burning through adventure games every fifteen minutes, eating egg sandwiches and look at bar price list and talk to bar lady, shortly before interact with drink. Thanks again, see those of you coming there!

Mark L - organiser

[LimpingFish]

Well, I was hoping right up until the last possible moment. :'(

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I won't be able to make it. Luckily my flights only cost me a grand total of (just over) 50 euro, so that's not so bad a loss.

Best of luck, Mark, and here's to everyone involved having a great time! \o/

[m0ds]

aw man you bought a plane ticket??! Dude, you haven't spoken to me since almost right after Ireland Numpty! Or whatever Irish equivalent I've forgotten. Get in touch next time  

ps. imagine me after a night with various irish people, including rachel (mm) and vivacious blonde who loves Frank, but I have to open an event in 6 hours.

[LimpingFish]

Yeah, I'd booked the plane tickets last week. Like I said, it was only around fifty euro return, so writing them off is no biggie.

In the end it didn't matter, since the window I'd hoped to have open this weekend swung shut with a bowel-loosening thud. I was holding out hope right up until last night, just in case I could turn it around, but no dice.

Consider me numptified.

[m0ds]

Sorry to hear that sir. Quite the bummer. And any money lost because of it isn't particularly great! Next time though, hopefully

[Jimbob]

On a train! Slightly hungover! But still!
See you lot shortly...

[Radiant]

Have fun y'all!

[Stupot]

Well?  How was day one?

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

How's it going so far, Mark?

[Technocrat]

The main theme of yesterday's festivities was "violence against women". Also, prizes!

[magintz]

I seem to recall imbibing much guineas and eating egg and watercress sandwiches made by marks mum 

all went well. There's great to see lots of stuff being done in the adventure community.

Two talks were awesome and made the trip worthwhile.

Yahtzee hasn't changed a bit, thanks for the audio message.

More fun today especially with cj coming. Even better that there are people here who haven't met him.

[Chicky]

Coughed up half a lung chasing the bus down, on my way!

[m0ds]

Coool! Yesterday was great - a positive response from everyone and the speeches were epic. Probably more relaxed today, already a few people are here, hopefully Azure will tweet it a bit more today. See how it goes. Peoples just arrived, gotta turn the net off. Will post my full report tomorrow, looking forward to today. BYeee

[straydogstrut]

I can't stay as long today - late already but i'll make sure i'm there in time to see CJ - so i'll sum up my experience so far. For me, the talks from Neil from Tinman Games and Chris Bateman were definite highlights. As was Yahtzee's message:-) The game previews were excellent (Baaaa!) but difficult for M0ds to demo when he hadn't played them before. Fun watching him fail tho;-)

I'll have more of a nosey round today, but the ones I saw that were playable - The Rail, Entrapment - were fantastic imho. It was also good to find people coming from a mix of backgrounds. Forgotten your handle already, sorry, but Damien's Chronicles of Humanity machinima looks impressive. Dodgy net connection at my B&B but i'll definitely check out the series when I get back to London.

This weekend has definitely inspired me to dust off my half baked ideas and load up the Editor again.

Huge thanks to M0ds for organising the whole thing.

[Jimbob]

It was a good day, as people have said the talks were excellent, and I got what I wanted out of it, which was to be inspired and motivated to work on my own stuff more, and to also kick Matt's behind into finishing something (seriously, finish a game Matt ).

Cheers to Mark for organising it, I can imagine it's never easy and a little bit nerve-wrecking. Although all I actually wanted was to win CD1 of Discworld Noir, because I can't find mine...

[Chicky]

Finally met CJ!!!! Mods makes a great host

[m0ds]

Haha! Packing up now, typing before I shut this PC down and go home, thank you to everyone who came today! Much more mellow and I had a lot of laughs... Great to meet everyone, and see people return Shame some people never came... Anyway, thank you guys. Straydogstrut... kicking myself for not knowing it was you (by your forum name) but thanks for coming, hope Didcot treated you well - and thanks for the christmas card!! And LOL Baaaa! Im a Murran goat woman!!11 And thanks Nathan, good to finally put a face to the name - teh chick.. Glad you had a good time too, Jimbob... It was quite nerve racking especially saturday, but the worst part is trying to remember all the new faces...but thanks for coming! What was your real name again? Pls?

Full report soon, but first, pack up, go home, smoke spliff, then deal with all this and that. There are a few online winners one of which is Armageddon, woot! So yeah, a pic from today:



Matt kindly demos Entrapment so that I can take photos, Ali and his missus Nelly Cootalot take a look, Gary Chisholm (Magintz) obviously more bothered about what I'm doing than awesome adventure games   More soon

[Chicky]

What an awesome day, really eye opening how professionally fellow members are working. Ali''s speech was jaw dropping (Nelly 2 OMFGZ1!!) this man is going to be famous, there's no doubt about that. The guys from Infamous Adventures have some serious commitment to Space Quest and it shines through in their remake. I partook in reminiscing with Tier, over times neither of us could really remember. Some fantastic playing from Simon Loveridge and hilarious team adventure gaming, with live voice acting! There was loads more, i met some more AGS folk, Magintz, Technocrat, Azure, Mods, and probably more without realising!  

Anyway, great day. Thanks to Mark, great show. It totally made my Christmas.

[Azure]

I  had an awesome time, thanks everyone for making me so welcome. Once I get my PC back I will upload more pics and stuff. I tried about 3 times to catch some of the live VO but missed most of it, did get some footage of live game playing though.

[Ali]

Thanks for organising this, m0ds. I had a really fun day too. It was great to meet up with you guys, see our bionic overlord CJ in all his brushed-steel glory and have my Space Quest nostalgia rekindled by the Infamous Adventurers. Nelly won a prize and I got to talk self-indulgently, so we were both satisfied.

Most importantly, I learned that Simon Loveridge and Mark Lovegrove are not brothers as I had previously thought. Apparently the people of Oxford are keen on surnames detailing the places where love occurs. So it was educational too.

[cat]

Too bad I couldn't be there :'(. Thanks Azure and Gary for twittering. Looking forward to see more pics and videos!

[Armageddon]

I won? I won something? Woo! : Looks like a lot of fun, wish there wasn't this huge lake between us.

[Cirius]

Thanks for everyone making me feel so welcome on Sunday. I was disappointed I couldn't make the whole weekend, but relatives do have a tendency to make their presence known at Christmas.

It was great to finally put faces to names and vice versa, and my apologies to Nelly for almost covering her with coffee at our first meeting. Ali's speech was thoroughly inspiring to everyone, and I got an opportunity to meet a lot fascinating people.

Overall, I feel quite inspired. One of these days I might actually finish making something.

I'll be putting together a few words on the event over the next few days for www.thereticule.com, so I might be messaging a few people with a couple of questions, if that's ok.

Once again, thanks to Mark for organising the event, and I hope to see you all next year, if not before.

Nick Wheeler

[Broomie]

Hey everypne, had a great time and it was nice to meet and see some of the work from other developers as I rarely get to check the quality of games that comes out around here so that's given me more incentive to check these forums more often.

Thanks for the great feedback on Space Quest II. Glad you all enjoyed it and it was awesome to see your combined effort nearly completing it. And that you enjoyed the many deaths of Roger Wilco too! Or endured, I hope the latter.

I have got videos of all the speakers on the Sunday. I haven't been able to go through them all but the video and sound quality are fantastic. I'll hope to cut them down this week sometime and do an individual video for each talker and put them on Youtube for all to see as they're not to be missed.

Thanks Mark for organizing this. Hopefully we'll have another meeting next year and I'm not promoting Space Quest II again because it still isn't out!

[Tenacious Stu]

Hi Guys

I just wanted to say that it was nice meeting you all. It was a shame I couldn't be there on the Sunday too, but I really enjoyed myself nevertheless. I thought that people should have had name badges with their forum names on as I probably spoke to people I would have known from the AGS forums, but didn't realise!

If your wondering, I was Stuart Lilford who was plugging Lightbulb Games, Entrapment and the Bake Sale and throwing my business cards at everyone.

Thanks as well for the feedback from Entrapment. People seemed to enjoy the game and it got a few laughs, which was great. I also had the chance to see some great games in development. Let's hope that they get finished .

The main theme of yesterday's festivities was "violence against women". Also, prizes!

Yes, I hope that there is nothing psychological about the fact that both our games featured attacks against women in some form.

I'll have more of a nosey round today, but the ones I saw that were playable - The Rail, Entrapment - were fantastic imho.

N'awww thanks very much.

Looking forward to next year!

Thanks for organising the whole shindig Mark 

[Stupot]

I'm stoked that this was a success and genuinely wished I was there. Should definitely be an annual thing.  Looking forward to the reports and what-not.

[Dualnames]

I has paidz for ticket at home, and i requirez NUDEZ AS PROMIZED.

[theSynapse]

Hi there,

First post ever! Go me.

Good to meet you all this weekend and to play and chat about games. Definitely fell inspired to do something (but I'm asking a technical question over in that forum!), someday. I promise I won't announce until it's actually going to become something! ;-)

This is Tom by the way for those of you at AdventureX.

Cheers Mods and looking forward to the next event. Remember what Neil said - it's all about marketing!

Cheers,

Tom

Edit: m0ds - if you PM me with your email I'll endeavour to get the photos and film footage that I took with my iPhone to you.

[Calin Leafshade]

Did anyone video/record the talks?

[Broomie]

Yep, I've got all of Sunday's talks including CJ, Ali and others. Will upload them soon.

As for Saturday, I believe m0ds and some others got them.

[theSynapse]

I Have some footage of that bloke at the end with his keyboard. Will have to send it to m0ds at some point fit integration into the video.

[m0ds]

@Chicky: Thank you for gracing the show on Sunday, it was great to finally meet you! Hopefully see you at future meetups that aren't too far away Have a great christmas!

@Azure: Glad you had fun, thanks for tweeting! Didcot not only looks like Steel Sky occasionally, if you stand in the wrong street you'll also get lazered and killed.

@Ali: Great to have you both there. You gave a very funny speech, sorry I couldn't stop giggling. So I'm wondering what happens when you guys get married, does Cootalot become Nelly Beckett-King, and is that the name of the third game? Thank you for taking note of all us Love-somethings...

@Cat: Videos and pics in newsletters over the next few days, but the entire lengthed vids make take a little while longer. Also hoping these can be seen by the ticket buyers such as yourself first. Thank you for supporting it though all the way from your home country.

@Armageddon: Yes! You won a copy of Gray Matter. More on this in a private email very soon!

@Cirius: Thank you for coming, didn't get to speak to you much but I'm glad you got involved and from what I could see you didn't have trouble speaking to people. Perhaps we'll see you at the next! In the meantime, good luck with making a game!!

@Broomie: No problem - it was very good of you guys to come down and be as enthusiastic about your project as you were. Sorry I didn't get you on the stage earlier but it was great to see a crowd around your demo table all day. Thank you to Jack too for videoing on Sunday and the both of you just generally being good spirits at the show!

@Stu: Great of you and Sam to come along in your bright blue (cup) lightbulb games t-shirts... I really loved that! I hope we'll see you both promoting at future events, and of course wish you all the best getting Entrapment complete for the Bake Sale. Certainly a great thing of you to get involved with a giveaway for charity in the early days of your business? And, it was fun to read your customized Simon the Sorcerer DVD case Thanks for making an epic drive from Walsall!

@Stupot: Be there next time! Or, don't - either way, you still won a prize! Tales of Monkey Island to be precise. Bet you've already got it?

@Duals: YEZ U PAYD NOW SHUT^ GO FINIZ PASARJ O SANTS...!!1/12304 NO PRESHUR EGSEPT LOTS LOLOLOL

@theSynapse/Tom: Glad you had a good time, great that you were an active speaker in terms of questioning our guests, they said the discussion was tip top. My mum also says thank you for acknowledging her sarnies, ha! Good luck getting started on a project, good luck marketting it - and if you want to send me anything, just hit "reply" on one of the newsletters and it will be emailed directly to me Perhaps we'll see you at a future event!

PS. Whoever left all those Pringles and chocolate bars...I'm not sure if you meant to, but THANK YOU! NOM

[Cirius]

Reticule article on AdventureX 2011

[m0ds]

Very nice!! Thank you sir Ooh look a quote 

[Jimbob]

My name is James Riley. And I'm sure I sent you a demo of my game...

[m0ds]

Sorry about that sir. You did indeed send me one via email but alas, amongst all the other tasks I forgot to download it. Wish you had pestered me about that a bit more on the day, perhaps it could've been resolved. Maybe next time I'll look into a system whereby it will be virtually impossible to miss any downloads. Or, you could bring it on a USB stick Thanks for coming along though, hopefully you can find some other ways to publicise it

If you want, I can send the copy you gave me to all the ticket buyers in an upcoming newsletter to have a go at their discretion?

[Azure]

Dumped some photos and one video on Flickr ( not that interesting tried and failed to catch some of that live voice acting XD)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aralego/sets/72157628514989931/

[Peder 🚀]

Whoever left all those Pringles and chocolate bars...I'm not sure if you meant to, but THANK YOU! NOM

Those clearly must of belonged to the pub!

[m0ds]

Dumped some photos and one video on Flickr ( not that interesting tried and failed to catch some of that live voice acting XD)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aralego/sets/72157628514989931/

LOL Tom's jacket is intense. And "Best prize ever" ... haha if only the CD's were in it   There was only a manual and a letter from Yufster. My bad..

@Peder - they weren't! I have my suspicions hehe. See The Reticule article by Cirius, you can clearly see them waiting to be eaten

[Broomie]

CJ, Ali and other videos are coming. Just a busy few days from now but I'll try to squeeze them in. Stay tuned!

[Stupot]

Oh, I won Tales of Monkey Island?
Cool!  I have already bought them digitally, but if that's a cased CD I'll still claim it.  I still like having cases for my games :-)

[theSynapse]

Wow! I have to say that my jacket really DOES look impressive!

Betraying it's alien origins there of course!

[m0ds]

Just strange it was so un-noticeable in person, hehe! Just to say, sorry I haven't sent out another newsletter yet, Christmas has been most merrily hectic, but it is a priorty for me to have it out by tomorrow.

[straydogstrut]

Take your time. I don't believe anyone can blame you for being distracted by the festivities at this time of year. Enjoy it while it lasts=)

[Matt Goble]

Would have love to come along if for no other reason to have a pint with you guys for old times sake.

Next time!

MattGoble

[Calin Leafshade]

videos videos videos

please

[Peder 🚀]

videos videos videos

please

[Igor Hardy]

videos videos videos

please

[Dualnames]

porn porn porn
please

oh.wrong window.

[m0ds]

Definitely. Have to do some PC re-jigging myself, hopefully the Infamous dudes will have up CJ and Ali's video soon!! 

[theSynapse]

Just strange it was so un-noticeable in person, hehe! Just to say, sorry I haven't sent out another newsletter yet, Christmas has been most merrily hectic, but it is a priorty for me to have it out by tomorrow.

If you email me then I'll endeavour to send the videos of the music man at the end and the other photos I got of the event.

[Alan v.Drake]

Ah, I'm eager to see the contents of the event.

- Alan

[Armageddon]

Still waiting on Gray Matter, and the first newsletters that I missed.

[m0ds]

Gray Matter? I put it in the bin because you got angry about Screen7 in the Ravenwood thread, but thanks for your interest!   

[Armageddon]

Oh no! :o

[Secret Fawful]

And suddenly, BAD PRESS FOR SCREEN 7 EVERYWHERE. 

[m0ds]

Yep!

Another new review of the event on Saturday written kindly by teh first ever visitor Will Ross of Cubed Gamers:
http://www.cubedgamers.com/home/2012/01/03/adventure-x-2011/

I will have a 2 min video online hopefully in a little while (will finish it now) - I know the full CJ and Ali speeches are very close (thanks James and Jack!) and I hope to get Mr Bateman and Mr Rennison's online in the near future, I'm just running low on the 60gb they need right now so it will take me a little while longer.

[m0ds]

From Saturday! A short 3-min segment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9x4oFKI24Q

A few more newsletters to write, and this will happen very soon - cos it's been a busy period. Hell yes Christmas! And then all my efforts getting the two videos I have online. But hopefully in-between the Infamous Adventure lads will bring you two fun talks from CJ and Ali 

[Igor Hardy]

Very nice!

I must finally play those Magnetic Scrolls games, if Chris Bateman recommends them so strongly.

[Tenacious Stu]

Ha ha nice. I knew that video interview would exist somewhere. Good vid, I'm looking forward to seeing the ones from Sunday as I missed that day .

[m0ds]

Now you can hear for yourself the audio clip Yahtzee made for the show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpNSlzk80HY

[Dualnames]

m0ds, lol. LOL LOL LOL.

[Anian]

Nice one.

[WHAM]

I wish I could have been at the expo... Maybe next year...

[Igor Hardy]

Cool - looks like Yahtzee doesn't like the prevalent, oversimplified point & click interfaces very much.

[Anian]

Cool - looks like Yahtzee doesn't like the prevalent, oversimplified point & click interfaces very much.

I think the point was in the puzzle difficulty, since he mentioned a couple of times the guessing of the verb and such.

[Igor Hardy]

He explained his point pretty clearly - it's about the fact that it leads to solving puzzles by brute force (rubbing ever item on everything).

[Broomie]

Hey guys, just to let you know the CJ and Ali videos will be on their way shortly. Finally got some time to work on them. I also have Simon the piano guy which I'll upload as well. All in 3D! I meant HD!

[Broomie]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20pYaVjAV98

Here's the Chris Jones talk! Ali video on it's way.

[Igor Hardy]

Wee, with those AdventureX videos coming out it's like early Christmas!

Anyway, it's always awesome to listen to THE Man!

[Broomie]

And here is Ali's talk. Featuring gameplay footage of Nelly Cootalot 2 and some interesting slides.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2KlPRIB7WI

Noticed it's a bit dark at the beginning and the light levels go a bit funky a few minutes later. Looks fine in Adobe. Damn you Youtube.

[m0ds]

Great - thanks Broomie!!

[Ali]

Does anyone else think I look like Fagin in profile?

Ghost: The Sailor's uniform will make an appearance!

[Ghost]

I loved both videos! But Ali's had the better slides. Great to see Nelly again, too, and what nice looks she has! (Shame about the sailor uniform. I really liked it!)

[Dualnames]

Hey, Ali, really liked your 32 minute video, very impressing.

[(deleted)]

(deleted)

[Dualnames]

He even called himself an idiot.

[Chicky]

Ack! Video of my face.

Ali is mesmerising 

[Grim]

So this is what Chris Jones looks like? But where's the halo?

[Dualnames]

Ack! Video of my face.

Ali is mesmerising 

So you're that guy sitting next to matt sitting next to rachel sitting closer to the screen. That explains it all.

[Igor Hardy]

Does anyone else think I look like Fagin in profile?

I think you look a bit like Falstaff.

[Ghost]

Ghost: The Sailor's uniform will make an appearance!

GLAD to hear that! In that case, YES, I think you look like Fagin in profile!

[Ali]

Thanks for the nice comments guys.

Hey, Ali, really liked your 32 minute video, very impressing.

Do I detect a sarcastic 32 minutes?

I think you look a bit like Falstaff.

Falstaff was a great big fatso! But he was played by Orson Welles, so I like that part of the comparison.

[m0ds]

Right, I have a PC with a big HD again so I will get the speeches from Saturday up for next weekend.

Also, IA dudes - any chance of the Simon Love clip?

[Monsieur OUXX]

Ali did the biggest practical joke ever in his presentation of November 2011: "The translation of Nelly Cootalot into French is about to be completed" 

[Ali]

[murdoch]I have no recollection of saying that. Someone else must have said it in my voice while I was moving my lips for unrelated reasons. [/murdoch]

[Broomie]

Dude, yes I shall. I'll put it up on Youtube this weekend.

And I might even finally get around to putting my own silly presentation up. Complete with it's very own counter of how many times can I say 'so.' 

[m0ds]

Dude, yes I shall. I'll put it up on Youtube this weekend.

And I might even finally get around to putting my own silly presentation up. Complete with it's very own counter of how many times can I say 'so.' 

Please do!