This past weekend was the DSU Computer Club's regular LAN party, we had about 25-30 gamers through out the night. This LAN party we tried a few new things, we did away with our tradational location of the DPP in favor of East Hall. I am pleased to say to say that agmonst our regular gamers we also had some new faces. While no "Offical" decision has been made quite yet, The club will most likely be holding future LAN parties in East Hall and possibly on a more semi-regular basis. Throughout the night several different games where played, I would say far more different games then in the past, some games played are as follow: armagetronad, team fortress 2, counterstrike, shattered horizon, league of legends, goldeneye source, Cube 2, The ship and starcraft. Hope to see everyone at the next LAN, which is current scheduled for Mach 20th, until then practice up!
New Logo
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After a few rounds of voting from a field of ten or so candidates (depending on how to slice them), the members of the Computer Club have voted on the logo appearing to the left.
This logo will be used for multiple aspects of Computer Club, including t-shirts, the website, banners, advertising materials, etc.
So congratulations to Jimmy Chattin on creating the winning logo! The logo will have to be approved before it can be used by an official club of Dakota State University.
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Thotcon
For those unaware of Thotcon, here is a quick briefing. Thotcon is an alternative conference to DEFCON, although marketed as being for those on a budget, located in Chicago. Thotcon is set for April 23rd, 2010. The organizers are aiming for a relatively small conference and, as such, have limited tickets. Joe Kahler is helping organize a trip for DSU students to go to Thotcon. Total cost per person would be between $100 and $160 depending on the number of people going. Contact Joe Kahler for additional details and learn more about Thotcon at their website.
Netwar
Next up was a presentation on the Netwar LAN party located in Omaha, Nebraska. Netwar is taking place February 26th-27th this year, so time is short, but here is the information you need. DSU students have attended in the past and "had a blast". Events include tournaments, suggested game periods, dodgeball, etc. Cost is as low as $25 if you pre-register before February 19th, $35 if you pre-register before February 26th, or $40 if you pay at the door. You can find additional information at the Netwar LAN website or contact Alan Luense.
Subgroups
Security Group
Due to issues with schedules this semester, the question was raised as to what time would work best for people to attend security meetings. Please email suggestions to Mike Ham. You can read on what security group has been up to until now on their subgroup page.
Game Design Group
Game Design Group is a subgroup that focuses on creating their own game. They have decided upon the Unreal engine and have been meeting on Thursdays at 5:30pm in East Hall 306 regularly. After several demos on the Unreal Development Kit provided by Ryan Wersal, the group is forging ahead with bringing their game concept to life. They are currently looking for people with art experience, programming experience, 3d modeling experience, UDK experience, or anyone in between. Everyone is welcome to join them for their meetings regardless of experience! The only requirements are to be there and work hard to learn and execute the vision! Contact Ryan Wersal with questions or more information. You can also read their subgroup page for information on what they have been up to.
Programming
The programming group is researching Blackberry Smartphone development and will be tinkering with Lego MindStorms. Everyone is welcome to join this group and hop in whenever they would like. Feel free to contact Tyler Steinle for more information or if you have questions.
LAN
The LAN group met after the meeting and is currently working to produce the LAN on February 20th through the 21st. It will be held in East Hall as the group has decided to try out a new venue. Feel free to hop in whenever you would like if you have thoughts or an opinion on how the LAN should be run! Contact Adam Klindworth with questions or for information. Meeting notes and recap information can be found on the LAN subgroup page.
Hardware
Hardware group is meeting every Wednesday at 5:30pm in room EH 002. They are currently working on overclocking an average computer to test the boundaries and are also researching game console mods/hacks. You can contact Nate Gates for more information on this subgroup or read up on what they have been up to.
Ideas for this Semester
A number of ideas were thrown around for what the Computer Club should do this semester. Here are the ideas:
- Presenters on Network Security topics
- Daktronics presentation
- Visit a campus with a CA.VE system
- Console hacking
- Latest cellphone demos
- Overclocking topics
- Programming for controllers and/or wiimotes
If you have particular thoughts on the above or would like to provide new ideas, contact us with your opinion! We would greatly enjoy hearing from you!
On Wednesday the 20th Computer Club held its Welcome Back event for the Spring semester. The event brought together a number of individuals participating in a number of activities, including:
- XBox & Console Gaming
- Computer Games (Starcraft)
- Movies (Valkyrie, Yes Man)
- Pizza
At the end of the night was a drawing held to raffle off a XBox controller. The proud owner of the new XBox controller is Tyler Steinle. Congratulations to Tyler!
The event will continue to improve with a number of different activities, so if you have anything you would like to see or do, be sure to tell your friendly Computer Club Officers!
Welcome back to DSU for another exciting semester of classes and computer club, stay tuned to our website for more updates on upcoming events, and recaps on past events.