At our recent #WinPhoneWeek event Simon Jackson talked about game development. Here are his top links to related resources:

• Monster Link of FREE resources – http://darkgenesis.zenithmoon.com/monster-set-of-free-resources-for-game-design/
• 3D MS samples for Windows Phone – http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/wpapps/site/search?f%5B0%5D.Type=Topic&f%5B0%5D.Value=Graphics%20and%203D
• Nokia developer samples – http://developer.nokia.com/Develop/Windows_Phone/Code_examples/
• CodeProject.com Games and More – http://www.codeproject.com/Tags/game

I know for some of you it seems like things have been very quiet since our last meeting. Don’t worry, we’ve been keeping busy though.

On October 30th we’re hosting the final leg of the global WinPhoneWeek series of events. This is a change from our usual events as it’s in the daytime and it’s for people with very little Windows Phone development experience.
Please note that this event has been very popular and there is a large wait list. Save yourself disappointment by not turning up if you haven’t registered as health and safety requirements mean we are strictly limited on numbers.

In November things will be back to normal though as on the 20th we return to Nokia’s London office for a more traditional meeting. Details, as ever, can be found on Eventbrite and Meetup.

This Thursday (Oct 24th) Microsoft are hosting an evening event for app developers not currently working on the Microsoft platform.

The aim is to provide an introduction (or “Hello”) to Windows Phone, Tablet development and powering apps with Azure cloud services.

If this sounds of interest, head on over to eventbrite for more details:
A Window on Windows : Microsoft Phone & Tablet Platform ‘Hello World’

You may have heard that some Windows Phone Development MVPs around the world are running community led Windows Phone development training days in October. (Originally they were all going to be in the same week but the number of events has grown to fill the whole month.)

See the full list of events at https://wpcommunityweek.eventday.com/

Rather than see the UK left out on all the fun we’re hosting the UK Leg of the series in London on October 30th.

Those of you who’ve attended our meetings in the past should note that this is a different event to what we’ve done in the past. This is a full day event.
Usual proceedings will resume in due course.

The day will feature a number of talks from UK MVPs and community leaders. There will be sessions to bring you up to speed if you’re new to Windows Phone development and some deep dives into some areas if you’ve done some development already. Full agenda to be published soon.

More details and registration at http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/event/8105155739

The Future Cities hackathon, that we mentioned the other day, has a new sponsor. Nokia.

As part of their sponsorship they’re now offering 4 Lumia 1020 devices as part of the prize pool (which also include books, conference passes and cold, hard cash).

Mobile is now a big part of the event. So if you want to show off your phone skills and combine them with some interesting datasets to win fabulous prizes then head on over to http://futurecitieshackathon.com/

On October 21st the new London Axure Meetup group are having a meeting with a focus on prototyping for Windows Phone 8.

More details and registration at http://www.meetup.com/Axure-London-Meetup/events/138722292/

The group is organised by Sandra Sears (who some of you will know from past WPUG meetings and Windows Phone Parent) and she’ll be presenting.

If you’re interested in designing Windows Phone apps and prototyping tools then check out the meeting.

UKWAUG are running another hackathon called “Future Cities” on the 5th and 6th October in London. This event will be attended by Microsoft, Microsoft Research, Westminster City Council, Future Cities Catapult (part of the Technology Strategy Board). There will be talks by Microsoft and Microsoft Research and an afternoon session on the Internet of Things and Future Cities by the Technology Strategy Board.
There are a number of challenges and thousands of pounds of prizes on offer. There will be application and web developers as well as data scientists forming teams.

This is a good chance for everyone to augment their skills and learn new ones. There are no restrictions so you can use any languages or tools you want C#, F#, Python, Azure, etc. Meals are served throughout the weekend and coffee and water is on tap!

Register at http://futurecitieshackathon.com

Jobs, we all need them and it’s almost always preferable to have one doing something you enjoy.
Many of you work with Windows Phone full time and we know that a lot of you would like to.
We’re also aware that more and more companies are looking to recruit people to work on Windows Phone related projects and we’re increasingly contacted by them to help find people.

Previously we’ve done this on an ad hoc basis but as demand is increasing we’ve opted for a more structured approach.

You can now see all the job vacancies we’re aware of (like this one) on our website.

Head on over to http://wpug.net/jobs to see what’s there. And if you want to keep track of new vacancies when they become available, you can subscribe to vacancies via email or RSS.

If you have a Windows Phone related vacancy you’d like to fill then get in touch and we’ll see how we can help.

Updating your app benefits everyone. The more you work on it, the better the experience becomes. By extension, the people that download your apps will be happier, too, because they will see all of the work you are doing. If you’ve ever published an app to the Windows Phone Store, Nokia wants to hear from you. As part of their ongoing commitment to and support of the Windows Phone community, they want to know what you think about Windows Phone – and find out how they can help you continue to develop, update and publish apps to the platform.

To take part, go to https://surveymonkey.com/s/WPDS005 and complete the quick survey.

Not only is it a chance to let Nokia know your thoughts on Windows Phone, Nokia UK and Nokia, Inc (US) are running a prize draw for local developers. It puts all you UK and US developers, who complete the survey by 20th September 2013, in with the chance to win a Nokia Lumia of your choice, a set of Nokia JBL Wireless Charger speakers and $100 PayPal credit!

Click here for full UK resident prize draw terms and conditions and click here for US resident prize draw terms and conditions.

The survey closes on 20th September though. As there’s only a limited amount of time to get involved, so don’t delay! Take the survey now.

If you’re in London (as I know a lot of you are) tomorrow (Thursday) night and fancy meeting with others interested in Windows Phone, head on over to Imbibe from 7.
Why not come on down for a drink and a chat?

More details at http://www.meetup.com/wpuguk/events/136088472/
See you there.