Dev.Mag has roots in a small community of gamers and developers (then operating under the name of Game.Dev) with a passion for making homebrew games and a desire to share their learning experiences with others. In 2005, the idea for a South African game development e-zine was born, and Dev.Mag published a number of free PDF format e-zines tackling all sorts of game development topics from the latest indie hits to guides and analysis on common game development challenges and pitfalls.
With interest growing, the operation and the content it generated soon migrated to the web and the Dev.Mag website was created. The Dev.Mag project is non-profit and entirely community driven, with contributors sharing their expertise through informative articles and guides on the topic of small-scale game development. The website grew to become a popular resource among local hobbyist game developers. Unfortunately, as is sometimes the way with community based projects, momentum faltered as key contributors left the fold to satisfy the demands of life.
Now under new leadership, the website has been brought back to life, the old objectives and goals for the community project revived, and things are once again happening over at devmag.org.za.
Herman Tulleken, the new editor-in-chief for Dev.Mag, breaks down what the website is all about. “At the end of 2010, two South African International Game Developers Association (IGDA) chapters were started. The South African IGDA web site now covers local community news and events. We decided to keep Dev.Mag, but change the focus to developer content: tutorials and insight shared by the people in the know. Although this is a relatively small portion of the topics traditionally covered, it is by far the content most favoured by our readers, and we were happy to move our focus to where it matters.”
Dev.Mag provides guides and discussions geared towards helping the amateur game developer hone their skills. Lessons on the best free tools to begin learning with, how to make sound effects without expensive equipment, how to build level editor tools without a team of people to help, and how to market one’s games without spending money are but a few examples of the knowledge on offer.
Dev.Mag is always looking for enthusiastic contributors to the community project, and there are three key ways this can be done explains Tulleken:
• Write an article about some aspect of making a game: using a tool, programming an algorithm, making art or audio, or designing fun game mechanics.
• Be part of a group project: We have some articles that look at a bunch of games grouped by theme, where we extract ideas for game design.
• Let us ask you questions: If you don’t want to write, but still want to share your knowledge, you can let us pick your brain (email, chat, or in person).
Anyone with relevant insight and knowledge they wish to share can get the ball rolling by e-mailing: [email protected]
Loading ...
