THIS IS FANTASTIC!

[Jorge]

I'm really excited about this, this morning I entered your blog and I got frightened by the fact that you were closing the blog, then I saw this and understood you were not closing the book, but ending the chapter!

I feel a huge power in the notgames initiative, like between all, developers and public, we can do something, we can create all that we wanted games to be but couldn't be.

Oh, and since this an introduction topic, I'm Welks/Jorge from your former blog/forum, nice to meet you (again  ).

[Michaël Samyn]

Hello Jorge. Welcome!

Even though we started the Notgames Initiative at Tale of Tales, it is not supposed to be our project. It's an environment where developers can discuss designing videogames without falling back on old formats automatically, in peace, away from to pro-game masses. It's up to everyone here to decide what to do and where this will go.
Obviously within the original premise ("notgames"). If people here suddenly have a desire to discuss game design, or cheese production or blanket knitting, they should find another place to do that. This forum needs to remain open to new ideas, but focussed on the task at hand.

[Jorge]

It's nice to hear you saying that. It talks about how much you want the interactive medium to turn into something else (I mean, you are not thinking egoistically, If anyone can contribute to the cause, let's welcome him). Also I meant to be your project as long as you and Auriea had de idea, but I didn't wanted to mean you were the rulers, supervisors or any other hierarchial figure over Notgames. If you see my post I said "I feel a huge power in the notgames initiative, like between all, developers and public, we can do something, we can create all that we wanted games to be but couldn't be" meaning we have to be together in this.

It's also nice to see how focused you are. Seems like you all are really trying your best shot with the Notgames initiative, and that's not only nice, but totally necessary.

I am a philosophy student myself and I have decided I want to make interactive and artistic expresivity my focus. I think all this needs praxis but also a conceptualization and a theory behind it that supports everything from behind as cinema, music or literature have it. I have also some concept design and ideas I find interesting but I don't have yet the knowledge or the tools to materialize them, but I want to have them someday.

Let's all of us do our best!

[Michaël Samyn]

Good luck, Jorge, on acquiring those technical skills. It's easy on the internet. Choose a tool, do some tutorials and make something!

[Jorge]

Would you, by any chance, have any recommendations on which tools or tutorials should I work with?

[Michaël Samyn]

It depends a bit on the kind of thing you want to make. For interactive 3D, Unity3D is probably the best choice at the moment. For modelling 3D characters, I'd recommend Blender. Blender also has a -limited- game engine built in.

If you're working 2D, you could use Flash, or Game Maker. Though other people here probably have more experience with 2D development than I do.

[Jorge]

Thank you, really

[God at play]

Welcome Jorge!

I think it's safe to say that since the start of videogames, there have been designers that have been creating things that don't focus on the pure game elements of videogames.  Many of us here on the forum have been working on our own things related to that for a while.  But what's cool about this is that it is one of the only places dedicated to that mindset.  What they have created is not a new way of creating a videogame - that has always existed - it is a community.  It is one in which we can collaborate to explore new directions in videogames together.  And by having a community, you have the potential to accelerate progress.  And that is what notgames is about.