My post-MIGW write-up is a little later than I intended, but my life is chaos, as is everyone’s.
My PAX Pass was, in fact delivered, but not quite to where I thought it would be. This would have been easier to figure out if PAX had sent me the correct tracking number for my package in the first place. I only found this out when I went to the registration desk at PAX to get a new one (i.e. Too late to locate the original one). Next year, I’ll pick it up in person.
GCAP was amazing, though some days were better than others. Not knowing the quality of a talk beforehand, I just had to go with my gut.
My Top 5 talks for GCAP 2023 were:
- Think Line a Player
- Game Pitches (workshop)
- Meaningful Choices – The Stories of Summerfall
- How To Make A Game Sell Itself
- Embracing Change
I thoroughly recommend checking these out, if/when they become available on YouTube.
The professional photographers they sent around managed to capture a few candid shots of me, either looking very interested, or else breaking ice during the social breaks.
Freeplay: Parallels was weird and wonderful, which is very much on-brand. Knuckle Sandwich, a project I helped Kickstart in May 2018, was finally given an official release date at the presentation: 23.11.23, which is just a couple of days from now! Optimistic that physical fulfillment will be straightforward after official launch, it won’t be too long before I can finally put a smiley face on this project.
PAX AUS 2023 was amazing as usual, though I do wish they’d space out their game dev talks so I can attend them all. I had to scramble to decide which of the overlapping presentations I wanted to attend, and sometimes scuttle out to another one if the first one wasn’t what I was hoping it would be. I’m grateful for large gaps of time to enjoy the show-floor, but I hate missing out on something awesome due to a schedule conflict.
The Technically Games: Lightning Talks event on Saturday wasn’t what I’d hoped it’d be. The talks being given were largely too specific and rushed to be of much use to me. I’m sure others got something of value from them, but I excused myself about half-way through, feeling I’d be better served by a full night’s rest instead.
MegaDev is always the best way to end MIGW, and I used it to give myself a good feed, mingle, and say my goodbyes for the year before heading back to Sydney.
This was also my first trip Sydney <=> Melbourne via train, which wasn’t altogether unpleasant. I’m still recovering from a stint in Canberra, and the 10 hour train between Sydney and Melbourne is far more tolerable than the bus from Canberra to Sydney.
See you next year, Melbourne; it’s always a pleasure!