What a weekend! The Medway Gaming Festival rolled back into town, setting up shop in the historic British trading and naval dockyards this July. And we decided to crash it.
Friday Fiasco
Picture this, a bunch of indie devs embarking on an epic road trip from the wilds of Scotland to a gaming extravaganza in Chatham. Google Maps estimates an 8-hour drive, but that was just the warm-up. Thanks to the classics like traffic accidents and roadworks, we managed to squeeze in some bonus sightseeing through the enchanting English countryside. Oh, and our hotel? It did a disappearing act, leaving us Airbnb-ing our way to questionable bedsheets.
Arriving at the Chatham Dockyard, we couldn't help but marvel at the unusual choice of venue. Forget the typical mega-arenas that house these gaming shindigs; we were standing in a place with history dating back to the 1600s! Cosplayers and gamers took over the dockyards for a weekend, giving this historical hotspot a huge digital upgrade. It was like stepping into a time machine, where ships once sailed to transport goods and—wait for it—African people to the Americas as slaves. It was history lessons with an unexpected gaming twist. For more info, we highly recommend checking out The Dockyard's page.
Late Friday evening we finally arrived, and as Murphy's Law dictates, bad luck strikes in threes. Our plans to set up shop folded. We were supposed to wow the crowds with our VR zombie-shooter prototype, Everything Against Us, and introduce people to the amazing world of our 2D jump platformer game, Super Undercover Slime Agent. But the gaming hardware? MIA, locked up by the security crew. Promises of 24/7 access fell through, leaving us worrying about the VR prototype for the rest of the night.
Saturday Showdown
Fast-forward to Saturday, where the VR adventure finally began. Setting up VR is like choreographing a dance with technology—except we were dancing in an expansive metal-roofed dockyard. Our main concern? A smooth internet connection. Well, Murphy's cousin, Glitch, showed up again. Our game's connection refused to work with the Medway internet, leaving us in a deadlock. Cue the frustrated cursing.
To solve this drama, we sprinted to Curry's for a router. Did it save the day? Nope. Our game leads went through a brainstorming frenzy and came up with a fixable engineering hiccup. *Victory dance* By the end of the day, our VR setup was finally up and running. We might've lost a day, but we were ready to roar on Sunday.
Superstar Sunday
Sunday arrived, granting us early entry to set up our VR space. But guess what? The supplied headsets and battery packs were power-deprived. Two hours to prep, and the clock was ticking as gamers gathered. A sizeable queue materialized out of thin air, making us feel like the main attraction at a circus. The entire day became a whirlwind of virtual reality and real-world intensity. No breaks, no lunch—just a non-stop rotation of excited gamers, eager to try our latest VR masterpiece.
Our VR station became a hotspot. The demand was so real that we had to shut down at noon just to recharge. People were waiting in line for longer than an hour, turning our booth into a gaming Mecca. This was the stuff we were hoping for—passionate gamers flocking to try our experience. In the end, the testing, the feedback, screams, and smiles made the journey all worth it.
A Salute to Chaos
Kudos to the Rapture Gaming team for putting on a show that even Mother Nature couldn't dampen. With life-sized Dragon arches weather grounded and some rogue marquees turning into tumbleweeds, it was a bit chaotic. A no-show by a 40-man volunteer team from the local university had the remaining staff in a hustle and bustle all weekend. Did the Rapture Gaming Festival crumble? Not a chance. Shoutout to Gary Kirby, the gaming wizard behind it all. If you're looking for a man who lives for gaming, he's your guy.
From booths to games, cosplay to props, the festival appeared to be a great success. The only downer? We were so busy rocking our own booth that we missed out on the full party experience! Here's a handy link to everything Rapture Gaming Festival related, get following folks, you won't be disappointed.