PAX Dev and West 2016 has come and gone. And, boy, was it a _time and a half_. Apologies if I repeat myself from the very latest Seeking Infinity (whoa!), but a lot of this stuff bears repeating (not to mention it's fun to talk about, in general).
First, some of the hotel staff that were there in 2014 (and probably 2013 and 2012) were here again / still this time. Believe me when I say "make friends with the bartender", because you get to hear a lot of hilarious and useful stories. Plus, there are other perks which do not need to be spelled out. The funniest part is they recognized us (well, more me, as I spent more time in the bar than is likely advisable).
PAX Dev, as in years past, cannot be discussed directly, and that's not just me being politely obtuse - it is, literally, the first thing they ask of all attendess (under threat of being kicked out). Sure, we can talk about it in general terms - insomuch as there were a number of industry veterans covering a wide variety of topics, from development to writing to marketing; and I would heartily recommend everyone with any sort of interest in the industry to attend at least once. You make lots of contacts and hear lots of stories from interested parties and / or battle-hardened professionals. To get a sampling of what was covered, head on over to the PAX Dev site for a quick rundown of the panel lineup. And, of course, random encounters with other devs made the difference.
PAX West, day one: scope out the non-Megabooth indies, nearly all day, to make a first pass. The PAX 10 were pretty diverse this year! Also stopped by Vlambeer to chat with Rami Ismail, buy a shirt (from Bisnap, a streamer / YouTuber), and generally give a good-natured hassle to a bunch of people I respect.
PAX West, day two: hit up the Indie Megabooth. Lots of new entries (since we skipped 2015), but a few from years past, with new projects. Great to see the stellar mix, and there was an entirely new section dedicated solely to tabletop games. Not exactly my thing, but I won't begrudge anyone for liking those. Then a cursory walk around most of the rest of the convention. Big names, as in years prior, were out in full force. Admittedly, I don't care much for them - I can get news, previews, early looks, etc. at pretty much any time if I dig deep enough. Lines for the most popular stuff were, of course, hours long. There was too much to see, so I didn't linger too long in any of them. I also took part in a TowerFall tournament - I got knocked out in the quarterfinals, but it was a great time!
PAX West, day three: traversed the Megabooth again, as the Minibooth had a new set of entrants for the second half of the convention. Took some time to see some of the more crowded booths; exchanged a bunch of business cards - shocker, everyone was super-happy to talk to a fellow dev, and also a streamer! Gave the STRAFE devs a good show - surprise surprise, growing up in the 90s will make you somewhat proficient at a game designed for the 90s. They were super-chill. Awesome panel at the end of the day about Games Done Quick, and made a few contacts there, too - that will be helpful come 2017.
PAX West, day four: did I mention the Indie Megabooth? I seriously cannot express how much I love everyone there. Talking to people that are very passionate, but also somewhat fearful, about what they're building earns them my respect. I'm sure some of them were sick of seeing me for a fourth (or more) time. Before I left, made a point to leave my mark on a couple leaderboards - y'know, just in case.
As far as specfifc games that were neat and cool and spectacular, reference these twoTwitter threads - I will be streaming a lot of them (at least 20, probably more)!
And that's it! I caught the pox this year, but it doesn't feel too serious. Here's hoping it dissipates quickly...
Oh, quick streaming-related update, as well - I am 100% certain I will submit Assault Android Cactus for SGDQ 2017! As a result, I will be doing a weekly practice session from now until the event itself - Saturdays, 7 PM CDT. There are also a few other changes coming to the stream that I need to nail down, but they will be announced when ready.
