In the workbook challenge for the ‘Who’ of section two, I had a sizable list of people right at the top of my head that I could go to for advice and feedback. A few years ago, when I started my game dev journey, I decided to try and start a club. My area, the quiet peaks of Southern Appalachia, seemed completely dead for game development. So I started scouring the internet with location specific queries. From Kickstarter, I found two game projects successfully funded in the next town over from me. I reached out to the people that started them and was able to open a line of communication. From there I started a Meetup.com group and started hounding Facebook. Within a year of starting my search I was able to put together a meeting of about ten local game developers. It wasn’t a lot, but it was amazing for our area. For the last year we’ve had bi-weekly meetings discussing development, art, and literature. We play each other’s games, team up for jams, and even run the circuit of small local conventions.
I wanted to share this here because it’s easy to assume that if no one in your neighborhood wears a sandwich board with ‘Developer’ scrawled on it, that you’re alone. But I would encourage you to dig a little deeper, you might be surprised.!
Edit: Thought it would be fun to include a shot from last month’s ETSU Con with the group.
