Fire...

On Thursday, November 21st, the house I was renting (637 Anderson St, Oconomowoc, WI 53066) burned down.  My wife and I made it out ok, and she also managed to get our dog out, but we lost all our cats.  We also lost the majority of our things, of which nothing was insured.  

While we are ok with the lack of things, (and we will begin replacing what we need over time), I lost most of my computer equipment I use for classes.  I try to offer free education online, but I also teach classes, and provide laptops for students that don't have them available to use in class.  I had to put a pause on my current classes, because the machines have been damaged.

At present, I only have one student who was/is using a laptop of mine and I have already received one laptop from Ian Bestler (An old friend of mine who happened to be out in Wisconsin for the weekend, thank you Ian!) but I have new classes starting in February, and with it, more students.  It is hard for me to cover expenses of computers while we are taking care of everything else.  

If anyone has some equipment they could donate to me, to use for education, I would really appreciate it.  Here is a list of things I'm hoping to get replaced if possible:

• Laptops, PC typically, though other OS's could work.  2G Ram+, 1.5 ghz+, 60G HDD+, Power Cord
• Projector screen, I was using an 8x4' stand up screen.
• WiFi Router, (I use this for networking the laptops in class)
• Remote Keyboard and Mouse (to keep up mobility in class)
• Bright Extention Coords, Good Power Strips
• Printer/Scanner (used for printing materials)
• LCD Monitor (I have one, but I'm used to two, and the power controller burned out on my second screen)
• *Other - I did not originally have or use Android in the classroom, but thanks to Ian's contribution of a Nexus 7, I now have Unity 3D games running on it, and can use it in classes as a testing device for students.  If I receive a device I cannot use, I will try to make sure it goes to good use somewhere deserving.  
• Projector, I have done everything I can to clean out the current one, which sort of works now, but it makes the whole room stink of burning plastics any time I turn it on.  It is a 1080p projector, but lower resolutions can work. --> I spent several more hours cleaning it, then let it run in the cold winter air.  Most of the smell is gone now.  :D  I should be able to start using it for classes again!

If you are sending me something, my friend David Bock, an experienced Aikido instructor with Abundant Joy Yoga Studio and also owning and operating Bock Accupuncture , is letting me use his mailing address until I have a more permanent address setup.  Please send anything to: Dan Sagmiller, Care of David Bock, Bock Accupuncture, 888 Thackery Trail #206, Oconomowoc, WI 53066.

Learn Build Play is *not* a non-profit business, but so far has made no profit.  I teach the classes because this is what I love doing.  If you are interested in helping out, but have no devices from the list, we can accept cash as well.  

Book Release: Indie Game Development with C# and XNA

I've just released a book that can be found here: http://learnbuildplay.com/Training/IndieGameDevBook

Its part of my (future) series, From Concept to Complete.  It takes you on a journey of making a game, where you act as a team member helping to prepare the entire thing.

• Game Design (brain storming, defining fun, minimal documentation)
• Team Management (how to keep people motivated, and the project progressing)
• Beginning C# Programming (Covers quite a bit)
• XNA Game Development (Multiplatform, 2D for us, but also does 3D)
• Game Release (Finances, Marketing, Investors)

I have been teaching Game Development courses at colleges since 2006 and have not found a book that I thought worked well enough with my teaching style, and really covered what I wanted it to cover.  So I kept preparing my own handouts and materials.  This book is based on the materials and training that I have been perfecting class after class and refining based on results.  

At present, most of my work relates to Unity 3D for game development, such as for my project, Warp Wars.  Perhaps in a year I will generate a book on Unity 3D, after I've had a chance to teach it in a couple class rooms.  XNA is not dead though.  It works great, and if you are planning to develop a fully 2D game, XNA is actually a better choice.  Unity 3D can do 2D, but it is not focused on it, and requires some extra hoops to get 2D to work.  XNA is a great place to start, and relatively easy to build games from a programmers mind.  Unity is built more for a Designers mind.

Dynamic Video Training

A while ago, I had an idea to make interactive video content, that would change the contents of the page based on your location in the video.  Today, its here.  Its very basic in its operations, but related content shows up in time with the video.  I have the first training video on the site as well.  Here's an example of how the content changes over time: (http://www.LearnBuildPlay.com -> Training...)

I plan to have more videos that work with this, and I also plan to create a forum that includes being able to post against a specific time in a video, and not the entire video as most other video sites do.  Its  a work in progress, and will need some considerations along the way.  Please let me know what you think, and if you have any ideas to improve it.

Training Video 1 complete! How To Get Started in Game Development.

I just completed my first video for Learn Build Play and Pinkie Square, on the current top FAQ from kids, "I want to make a game, how do I start?"  In it, I cover a few key topics, such as trying a tabletop game, experimenting with free game editing tools, finding a mentor and getting more resources.

This is not my first video, but I'm still very new to it.  I'm also very much open to ideas on how to improve these videos moving forward.  The video tool I used is TechSmith's Camtasia.

If you like it, please pass it on.  If not, please comment openly on how it could be better.  

Thanks.