r/montreal • u/Zichaelpathic • Feb 23 '25
Événement I Made a Video Game Developer Hangout Community in MTL
The title says it all! When I moved back to Montreal last year, I didn't see a lot in the way of game developer communities in Montreal. I ended up saying "f*ck it" and created a meetup group that's become something of a fun hit with the indie dev community!
We meet up once a week for after work drinks at the eSports bar Meltdown on Saint Denis, and we host monthly themed game jams! We also JUST started doing digital art classes and those seem to be a HUGE hit!
What surprised me the most is the amount of people in our community that want to just enjoy game development for what is it: a creative outlet that has the possibility to become a full time career. Pictured above is the "voting" process from last month's game jam. If it's something you'd like to join or be a part of, fire me a message!
Oh also, none of our events cost one penny for attending. If the event is at the bar, all we ask is that you get something from the bar to support the venue. Happy weekend all!
Tldr; I made a local game developer community here in Montreal and we just have a good time and make games and art together
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u/Zichaelpathic Feb 23 '25
I totally forgot to mention in the post, but if you'd like to come to a future event DM me: we're a super welcoming community
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u/0ajs0jas Feb 23 '25
Let's a do a GDM (Game Dev McGill) Collab !!
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u/Zichaelpathic Feb 23 '25
Absolutely we should! Fire me off a DM and let's get something in the works! I reached out to McGill for that purpose but never got an answer back
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Feb 23 '25
Can noobs join too? I’m a struggling backend dev without a job and basic development experience in C# and APIs
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u/Zichaelpathic Feb 23 '25
A thousand percent you can! It's welcome to all who have an interest in video game development. We always love sharing our knowledge
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u/Zulban Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Feb 23 '25
You're probably a lot closer to the average demographic than you think.
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u/Captain_Kasa Feb 23 '25
I'm in AAA by day and solodev by night, would love to join
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u/Zichaelpathic Feb 23 '25
How can I possibly say no to that? Join us at a Tuesday event at 6 pm! We meet at the eSports bar Meltdown!
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u/coppercactus4 Feb 23 '25
There is also Drink Up Game Dev, Pixelles, and another one in Verdun that I can't remember the name of. Montreal is big enough for more :)
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u/Tajaia Feb 23 '25
You can find them and more, as well as this one on this website https://www.gamedevmtl.com/
Only one not on that site is pixels and poutine, that meet once a month on the plateau!
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u/Humble_Wish_5329 Feb 23 '25
DevteamDrink, I am the founder of this event haha, but I agree, Montreal is big enough to welcome another event!
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u/remzordinaire Feb 23 '25
That's awesome! Do you guys have some kind of archive of the projects you do for people to browse?
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u/Zichaelpathic Feb 23 '25
We don't currently, that's more up to the individual. This is mainly a social community we made, but if you're looking to have a video game or an experience put together by someone in our community send me a message and I can give you our discord link.
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u/These-Mango1158 Feb 23 '25
OMG! This is awesome. I’ll be moving to mtl next September and I would be so excited to participate of the jam! I’ve experienced Unreal and Unity development. Also a lot experience with backend. C# and C++, some work with materials, textures… I was playing with landscape and water material in Unreal 5. Very crazy!!! I wish I could post a short video here to demonstrate my work, but only pics are allowed 😅
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u/brainwarts Feb 23 '25
I'm a game developer in Montreal, do you have like a Discord server or something I can join? I work as a programmer and tech artist at a studio here. I'm very keen on making more friends who are gamedevs here.
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u/BigHaircutPrime Feb 23 '25
As someone who jumped into the industry with QA two years ago, and has always wanted to learn to make games, I am extremely intrigued!
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u/Zichaelpathic Feb 24 '25
How about I send you our discord server link? We post pretty regularly in there
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u/FuknCancer Feb 23 '25
Wish this stuff was around 20 years ago. Very happy to see this type of community. I will save this post and might come one day.
What day you normally go?
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u/Zichaelpathic Feb 24 '25
We have Tuesdays as our weekly after work drinks, and on weekends we have different digital art classes. I'll send you our discord server link for easier communications :)
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u/Tits_mmp Feb 23 '25
I feel there used to be a lot of game events when I moved here maybe 9 years ago… but they slowly all went away 🤔
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Feb 23 '25
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u/Zichaelpathic Feb 23 '25
We are both anglo and Franco friendly. The majority of us are bilingual and will meet you at whatever your language preference is
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u/FrezSeYonFwi Feb 23 '25
What does anglo-friendly mean?
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u/HammerheadMorty Petite Italie Feb 23 '25
Anglo-friendly is a term that English speakers from all over the world have developed in Montreal to refer to places that are willing to converse in English. It’s become popular as a term, especially with newcomers who are still learning French, as they want to integrate into Montreal society while learning a new language which takes years and years to achieve.
There are groups in Montreal who try very hard to ban the use of English entirely. For newcomers who speak English and are still learning French, these groups often appear hostile and prejudice towards newcomers and learners.
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u/FrezSeYonFwi Feb 23 '25
Yeah that’s what I thought, « where people won’t talk to eachother in French » basically
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u/HammerheadMorty Petite Italie Feb 23 '25
Non, «là où les gens sont prêts à parler anglais» est plus précis et la différence compte
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u/pierlux La Petite-Patrie Feb 23 '25
Let me try a definition: Run by a mostly unilingual English speaker who’s unaware they live in a majority speaking city because their bubble exclusively speaks English, and therefore does not see how uninviting their approach is to the larger group.
I can see it even with businesses opening their doors in clearly French speaking neighborhoods and wonder why their commerce is quiet.
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u/FrezSeYonFwi Feb 23 '25
Ouin ben c’est un peu mon impression, en fait je me disais que Anglo Friendly veut surement dire « where no one there will speak French to eachother because I don’t understand and that hurts my feelings »
Le nombre de fois où je me suis fait dire que j’étais « rude » parce que je parlais en français à un autre francophone dans une soirée pleine d’anglophones… pour vrai ça m’a vraiment refroidie d’aller à des trucs « anglo friendly » si je peux même pas parler à mes pairs dans notre propre langue…
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u/KazAraiya Feb 23 '25
Thats awesome! I went to meltdown once, recently, trying to socialize more and they have great non alcoholic drinks aswell additionnaky to the available consols to play with friends.
Great initiative of your part.
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u/tammytaxidermy Feb 24 '25
This sounds awesome! Technical Artist in Montreal. Super interested when my car isn't blocked in my garage!
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u/Dyzelol Feb 24 '25
My focus is more web/app dev, but meeting game artists would be awesome! What is the consensus on non-game devs showing up?
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u/FastFooer Feb 23 '25
I’m just curious… what’s the focus? Students and recent graduates? Indie solodevs? Fulltime studio gamedevs?
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u/Zichaelpathic Feb 23 '25
Anyone and everyone who like any part of game development. There's no discrimination or Gate keeping here: If you have an interest or a hobby or a career in game development, we want you to join us
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u/sleeping_pablo Feb 23 '25
That’s sick! Are complete noobs welcome?
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u/Zichaelpathic Feb 23 '25
Absolutely! We have plenty of people (myself included) that love showing people the ropes and getting them started! Would love to have you at a future event!
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u/OakTreader Feb 23 '25
What should a noob start with in terms of programming languages?
I have SOME coding experience, but not a lot. I picked up OpenSCAD for drawing in 3D pretty easily, and I really enjoy it... like some people enjoy painting, or even writing, I've discovered I enjoy coding drawings.
But.. I need objectives, or projects to motivate myself.
I don't mind if it's obscure, or difficult, or low-levels of abstraction. As a matter of fact, I don't like high levels of abstraction as much.
I think starting with simple games might get me into a whole new world of coding.
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u/Zichaelpathic Feb 24 '25
As far as programming languages go, learning C++ and C# will get you going for Unreal Engine and Unity respectively. Having some Python knowledge will be useful for learning GDScript for Godot. The nice thing is that these 3 game engines are easy enough to learn programming. As a side note, Unreal Engine also uses a system called "blueprints", which is visual scripting inside their engine instead of writing code. I THINK Unity also has visual scripting, but I don't think it's as extensive as blueprints are
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u/PiLLe1974 Feb 23 '25
Nice initiative. Never tried that pub.
Q: Are the kids learning something solid like Godot or Unity? :P
But, yeah, those drink-ups and Gameplay Space disappeared soon during/after 2020. Haven't even seen the newer space "ECTO" so far.
On Eventbrite, at Unity for example (meetups, Global Game Jam, etc), and on https://www.gamedevmtl.com/ the events sometimes feel too rare (one per season or so).
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u/Zichaelpathic Feb 23 '25
It's a fun pub, gaming memorabilia on the walls and consoles at every corner.
We have people who use everything from GameMaker Studio to unreal engine, and even some people who have made their own game engines
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u/PiLLe1974 Feb 23 '25
Nice, yeah, and own game engines always is cool.
Just personally, I don't want to try to start that anymore.
On the other hand we also need good engine programmers, possibly with new ideas about frontend, workflows, etc. ;)
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u/Automatic-Use-2468 Feb 24 '25
Just as a protip from Concordia Peel Region eSports league: "qu'est ce que il y a freisure fromagerie Dans la femme salope bouche? Chez fromage la peinture Dans Mon Oka regionelle c'est terroir salope oui! "
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u/r_yc Feb 23 '25
Sounds fun, when's the next meet up? Where are the classes happening?
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u/Zichaelpathic Feb 24 '25
We meet every Tuesday at an eSports bar called Meltdown, and the classes typically happen on weekends at BanQ libraru
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u/ImageVirtuelle Bonjour ail Feb 23 '25 edited Feb 23 '25
What’s your gaming pitch? An example of some short term goals you have? If any have been planned. Maybe you are in brainstorming mode.
Have fun! Sounds like some fun work ahead. If I could follow your progress in some way I’d be super curious.
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u/Automatic-Use-2468 Feb 24 '25
Bro says "Consuela housekeeping.. vous avez non quel-que chois" haha this picture is actually not Artificial intelligence generated? Nous Avon's qu'elle Tabernack LOL 😆😂😂😆
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u/paulbrisson Feb 23 '25
Side effects of prolonged exposure to a blue screen, primarily from digital devices like computers and phones, include: eye strain, dry eyes, headaches, blurry vision, fatigue, disrupted sleep patterns due to melatonin suppression, and potential increased risk of age-related macular degeneration from potential retinal damage caused by the blue light. Brain cancer
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u/tehKreator Feb 23 '25
You know the side effects of exposure to the sun homie? Hint : it’s cancer !
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u/kangarootoess Feb 23 '25
What was even the point of this comment? Literally EVERYTHING can kill you.
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u/ConsiderationEasy723 Feb 23 '25
Very cool, most of the game devs in Mtl are awesome.