Jim Shepard Game Designer Dungeonmans

The International Roguelike Developers Conference

Final Schedules and Streaming

The schedules are as "final" as I can make them! We will be having talks and/or panels from 10am-4:30pm Eastern both Saturday, May 30 and Sunday, May 31.

We have over fifty people planning on attending in person, and we will be (attempting!) to stream live via twitch. We will also be recording many (if not all) of the talks.

Here is our list of speakers and times.

Here is a description of the talks.

There is more information below on traveling to the conference, but here's the address:

Georgia Institute of Technology

Scheller College of Business

800 West Peachtree NW, Atlanta, GA 30308

Who is Speaking at IRDC?

Jim Shepard, Creator of Dungeonmans

Brian Bucklew, Freehold Games, Creator of Caves of Qud and Sproggiwood

Jeff Lait, Creator of POWDER, Vicious Orcs, and many more 7DRLs

Eben Howard, Creator of SquidLib, Assault Fish, and EmoSquid!

Bob Saunders, Creator of Approaching Infinity

Sheridan Rathbun, Creator of Barony

Jason Grinblat, Freehold Games, Creator of Caves of Qud and Sproggiwood

Cameron Kunzelman, Georgia State Graduate Student, Game Developer, and Critic

Adam Boyd, Moderator of /r/PixelDungeon and Roguelike Enthusiast

Jared Corduan, Roguelike Enthusiast

Rob Parker, University of Waterloo (Remote Talk)

Brett Gildersleeve, Creator of Rogue Space Marine

Lee Djavaherian, Creator of a Microcontroller Roguelike

Plus. a live recorded episode of Roguelike Radio

Here's our room for the conference, it holds 75 people!

Recording and Streaming

We are going to try to record all of the talks. We will also try to stream everything, via something like twitch. Stay tuned to this blog or a forthcoming e-mail for more information.

The stream will run the length of the conference: May 30 and 31, 10am - 5pm Eastern.

If you are a speaker, please be prepared to bring your own materials (laptop, presentation files), I will update you all in the next week or so on the specific setup.

There is WiFi available at the conference, through Georgia Tech. Last I heard, it was $3/day.

Nearly One Month Away

First, thank you to everyone for the amazing response this event has received. I think it really demonstrates the pent up demand of the US roguelike & roguelike developer community.

Secondly, thank you to everyone who has volunteered to help, especially Jim Shepard, who stepped in to fill the keynote position when Mark Johnson had an unfortunate change of plans. Thanks also to Bob Saunders, Brian Bucklew, Eben Howard, Kawaii Dragoness, and Jeff Lait for jumping on the bandwagon very early and giving me encouragement.

We have an amazing schedule of twelve speakers, with a few more pending. I have posted the full schedule here on a google spreadsheet (public link), and put descriptions for many of the talks here (public link). Sunday, May 31st has filled up with a few speakers as well, but is currently blocked off for panels - both planned and ad hoc.

I have set up an event page on EventBrite. Please go there to formally RSVP so that I can get an accurate count to our host. The 'tickets' are free.

At the EventBrite page, there is also an option to donate. If you can help, please consider even a small amount to help offset the cost of paying the hardworking security and janitorial staff that will be working the weekend during the conference. If you'd prefer to not go through EventBrite, you can also get in touch with me separately, either via e-mail or in person at the conference.Thank you so much and I am very much looking forward to seeing everyone at IRDC US!- Todd

IRDC US is Happening!

Where?

Atlanta, GA, USA.

The Scheller School of Business at the Georgia Institute of Technology in sunny Midtown.

Georgia Institute of Technology
Scheller College of Business
800 West Peachtree NW, Atlanta, GA 30308

When?

Saturday, May 30 and Sunday May 31

Talks and Panels will start at 10 AM both days.

Who is Speaking?

All sorts of roguelike developers and related speakers. Jim Shepard, Brian Bucklew, Sheridan Rathbun, Bob Saunders, and many others.

A (very rough) schedule of events is posted here.

A slightly more useful outline of potential talks is available here.

Both are subject to change as more speakers formalize their plans. It's not too late to sign up for a talk. The more the merrier. Please get in touch.

What about Panels?
We will also have panels, at this point all day Sunday is reserved, so we can have as many panels as you want! We will also try to record at least one episode of Roguelike Radio.

How Many People are Coming?

At last count, 59 people have indicated they wanted to come in person on this RSVP form. Another 20 roguelike enthusiasts have indicated they would watch online, which we are working on.

I want to come!

Great! Atlanta is a very travel-friendly city. You can get non-stop flights from almost anywhere in the U.S., and there are Uber cars everywhere!

Please RSVP by using this form, if you have not already.

I want to give a talk!

Even better! Please e-mail me at irdc.usa@gmail.com as soon as possible!

Where Can I Stay?

Georgia Tech has a great list of nearby hotels. We have set up a spreadsheet on google docs with some other notes and will take input from any other IRDC-goers.

How Do I Get There?

Georgia Institute of Technology
Scheller College of Business
800 West Peachtree NW, Atlanta, GA 30308

The building is very accessible via MARTA (Atlanta's subway). The fastest way is probably to take MARTA to the North Avenue station, and walk up to 5th Street.

There is also a Georgia Tech trolley that travels from the Midtown MARTA station to "Tech Square" (the 5th ST area where Scheller is).

The city is also filled with Uber cars.

Can I Watch Online?
Probably! We are still working with our host on the specifics. We will try to stream and/or record as much of the talks & panels as possible.

See you there!

Announcing IRDC US 2015

In the grand tradition of past International Roguelike Developers Conferences, we are announcing a US version of the conference, this May 30-31 in sunny Atlanta, GA.

We will be holding the conference on the campus of Georgia Tech, the exact room will depend on how many people come, but currently the Scheller Management Building is it.

Currently Scheduled Talks

Jim Shepard (creator of Dungeonmans!)
Brian Bucklew (creator of Caves of Qud & Sproggiwood)
Mark Johnson (creator of Ultima Ratio Regum)
Alex Zook (Georgia Tech PhD student and PCG researcher)
[maybe] John Harris (writer of the @Play column)
Eben Howard (creator of SquidLib)

With many others in the works, from academia to professional games development.

Please share and spread around the above form as much as possible, and check back here for more info.

What is IRDC?

The International Roguelike Developers Conference (US) is an annual gathering of people of all nationalities, genders and beliefs, who are interested in creation of roguelike games. For the first time ever, we are throwing one in the United States!

Roguelike games are computer games that are in some aspects similar to, or inspired by, a classic, turn-based, grid-based, text-mode, tactical, randomized, perma-death, dungeon exploration game known as Rogue. You may have heard about some of the classics such as NetHack, Angband, Dungeon Crawl, or ADOM. Modern takes on the genre include games like DoomRL, Brogue, ToME, Dungeons of Dredmore, as well as many "roguelike-inspired" games such as FTL and Spelunky.

Procedural content generation is also a topic that is near and dear to fans and developers of the roguelike genre.

This conference will have scheduled talks but is relatively informal. The exact list of speakers and the exact scheduling of events is subject to change, and some events may be decided right then and there at the conference! Any sort of roguelike-related activity is encouraged: from ad-hoc discussion panels, game demos, workshops, maybe even a game jam! It all depends on what the participants want to do. Wherever possible, scheduled talks will be broadcast enough in advance so that people can potentially join in online via twitch or related streaming service.

The conference is not limited to gaming. Roguelikes are well known for their procedurally generated content (PCG). This is an area ripe with academic research and discovery. Michael Cook recently hosted ProcJam which feature many talks related to... — The conference is not limited to gaming. Roguelikes are well known for their procedurally generated content (PCG). This is an area ripe with academic research and discovery.

Michael Cook recently hosted ProcJam which feature many talks related to procedural generation, we have at least one of the same speakers (Mark Johnson), and would love to see more talks on this subject!

What is IRDC?

This conference will have scheduled talks but is relatively informal. The exact list of speakers and the exact scheduling of events is subject to change, and some events may be decided right then and there at the conference! Any sort of roguelike-related activity is encouraged: from ad-hoc discussion panels, game demos, workshops, maybe even a game jam! It all depends on what the participants want to do. Whereever possible, scheduled talks will be broadcast enough in advance so that people can potentially join in online via twitch or related streaming service.

Please fill out our survey form below if you are at all interested in participating!