f13.net

  For those not in the know, I left F13.house at the end of last year with my sights set on the Promised Land... ok, well, Austin anyway.  I had to get out of Phoenix, besides the creepy uniformity of the sprawl, it is just too fucking spread out.  So much so that saying you live in phoenix is about as descriptive as saying you live in New England.  So when I began looking for places to live in Austin I figured since I wanted to be near the game companies in Austin I decided I had better know what exactly constituted 'Austin' as far as game companies were concerned. So I started grabbing the addresses for game companies wherever I could find them, Gamasutra, IGDA, and any other places I could find random pieces of information like phone numbers and zip codes.  Once I had compiled a healthy list I tried to find a way to map of all their locations on one map, enter CommunityWalk.com (http://www.communitywalk.com).  There I could make a pin map on Google maps exactly like I wanted with the added bonus that I could share the map.  So here you go, for the curious, Austin's game companies.

(http://lh4.google.com/image/Christo.Irving/RbqFDBfdliI/AAAAAAAAAAw/FAYeDwJuTpU/)
http://www.communitywalk.com/map/28695

If I ever get really bored some weekend I think I’ll map every company on Gamasutra and IGDA and create the ultimate map.

Your link is messed up (you have another link bundled with it).

Anyways, hope you enjoy Texas. :)

Fair warning though, the game companies, and the districts they reside in, are not the "Real Austin". ;)

Not sure if you wanted this thread to talk about Austin in general though, or something else. So I'll cut my post short for now.

As for Phoenix, it's much like Austin's sister city (San Antonio, where I live now). Even more spread out, I believe.

Uh oh. That's like a LA "Map to the Stars", but for creepy DevStalkers. Don't let Viklas see.

Wow, they're pretty closely clustered to that Rt 1 thing.

Here's the link alone: http://www.communitywalk.com/map/28695
Though, the original works for me.  Of course it is my map so there might be something I'm missing.

As for realness I was referring to all the companies on that map who said they are "in Austin" so I wanted to find this mythical Austin.  Once I knew the center of activity I would know who's not really in Austin by any definition, like those wankers in Survivorsoft over by the lake. As for what constitutes Austin in reality, let’s just say after seeing this map I decided to get a place about ten miles north of reality.

Oh and Yoru, Viklas has got nothing on me. I made the map, and I plan to use it… muahahaha. But seriously, I’ve been trying to get into the industry using the proper channels, I figure it’s about time to start breaking and entering. First order of business is to find them, check. Next up recon…

Good luck. Watch out for them restraining orders. :)

Wow, I only recognized 3 of those companies.

And heh, Bioware is right on a golf course. That could be interesting.

To this day the only address I could find for Bioware was their zip and their phone number, and I'm too broke right now to pay for the reverse lookup for the phone number so the pin is on the center of the zipcode area.

Your grief title is particularly hilarious in light of this thread.

I used to work in the same building as NC Soft. Used to see Lord British quite often in the parking garage and elevator. Seemed like a nice guy. Hope you can find a good job here. A few of the people at my company were telling me of how they used to hang out at Lord British's castle, which, incidentally is not on your map. Good luck!

Actually, they're clustered on north 183, also known as "Research Blvd." -- sort of Austin's tech corridor.

I could put Richard's castle on the map for you but I won't. ;) Hell, you could probably find it with the satellite view... it's not small.

Actually if you're stalking for dev jobs, a better link is http://www.gamasutra.com/jobs/. Most places have security and won't let you just amble in and fill out an application.

I'm told the Real Austin is along 6th Street, but I'm rarely south of 183 myself. I am a boring suburbanite.

You stalk better than me, I delegate my role to you.

Oddly enough, I got offered a 20-hour-a-week testing gig at a local gamedev shop one summer in college by using that amble-in method. Granted, it was one of about 20 businesses (the others being all non-gaming) in a giant tech park that I simply walked around, showing up unannounced and uninvited, and there wasn't exactly the tightest (i.e. any) security in that area.

Probably not the best idea though.

And I ended up having to turn that job down anyway since it wouldn't've covered rent. :|

So Daikatana was your fault?

I went to college in New York. Dallas does strange things to brains; I blame that Texas sun. :P

The moat would probably be a good visual for searching. 

  I've been updating and adding to the map, moved a couple of pins to their correct location took out some defunct studios and added Edge of Reality and Vigil.  I still don't have Bioware's location, they are stealthy prey.  If I don't have a pin for a company or it's in the wrong place be a sport and let me know the address so I can add it.

  EoR was a tricky one, I had to figure out it's location using Google's satellite photos and this image from their website.
(http://www.edgeofreality.com/graphics/Image_Office_02_L.jpg)
 Oh yes, I have mad skills.