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Tutorials
GDC 2010 Tutorials
Full-Day Tutorials
Tuesday, March 9
- (101) The Best of Times The Worst of Times: Building an Independent Dev Studio in 2010
- (102) Advanced Visual Effects with Direct3D
- (103) Lua Scripting in Game Production
- (104) Learn Better Game Writing in a Day
Wednesday, March 10
- (201) Level Design in a Day: Best Practices from the Best in the Business
- (202) Physics for Programmers
- (204) Producers Boot Camp
- (205) Audio Boot Camp
- (207) Intel Game Performance Workshop
- (208) MySpace Tutorial Day: Game Development on Social Platforms
- (209) V-Con 2010: How Games-as-a-Service & Virtual Items Have Changed the Playbook Forever (Presented by Live Gamer)
Two-Day Tutorials
Tuesday - Wednesday, March 9 - 10
(101) The Best of Times The Worst of Times: Building an Independent Dev Studio in 2010
Session Description:
The big console dev deal no longer dominates the developer landscape. New
formats and delivery systems introduce uncertainty and turmoil in the developer
marketplace -- but also provide unprecedented opportunity. Our panel of
experienced games industry lawyers and successful developers will discuss the
state of the industry in 2010, how deals and publisher demands have been
changing since GDC 2009, the nature of game dev deals today, and how studios
must adjust to the realities of the business during these changing times. The
panel will also discuss deal points negotiated in all deals no matter the platform
-- how old battles are being re-fought in contract negotiations -- and suggest
strategies to improve the end result of your deal. The day will end with a mock
negotiation of a game dev deal involving an online component and new
platform.
Takeaway:
Attendees will share the experience of lawyers and top tier developers in
multiple segments of our changing industry -- and then be able to apply that
knowledge and perspective in operating their own companies. Attendees will
also see and hear both sides of deal points which will be applied by the speakers
in a true-to-life negotiation.
Intended Audience:
Studio Heads, Assistants to Studio Heads, entrepreneurs, attorneys, law students, business development executives, and studio staff who want to learn more about contract issues and the deal-making state of the industry.
Speakers:
Jim Charne, Law Offices James I Charne
David S Rosenbaum, Law Offices of David S Rosenbaum
Dan O'Connell Offner, Nixon Peabody LLP
Robert Walsh, Krome Studios Pty, Ltd.
Didier Malenfant, Ready At Dawn
Steve Taylor, Wahoo Studios / NinjaBee
Harold Ryan, Bungie LLC
(102) Advanced Visual Effects with Direct3D
Session Description:
Brought to you with the collaboration of the industry´s leading hardware and software vendors, this day-long tutorial provides an in-depth look at the Direct3D® technologies in DirectX® 10, 10.1 and 11, and how they can be applied to cutting-edge game graphics. The primary focus will be on DirectX 11, examining a variety of special effects which illustrate its use in real game content. This will include detailed presentations from AMD and NVIDIA´s demo and developer relations teams as well as some of the top game developers who ship real games into the marketplace. In addition to illustrating the details of rendering advanced real-time visual effects, this tutorial will cover a series of vendor-neutral optimizations that developers need to keep in mind when designing their engines and shaders.
Takeaway:
Attendees will gain greater insights into advanced utilization of the Direct3D 11 graphics API as used in popular shipping titles.
Intended Audience and Prerequisites
The audience should already have knowledge of DirectX 9 or DirectX 10 on PC, and ideally, will have previous experience working on PC graphics. The session will target graphics engineers/leads working on PC titles for 2010 onwards.
A basic grounding in DirectX 11 graphics would also be very helpful as much of the course material is aimed at DirectX 11. The audience should also at least be somewhat familiar with modern high-end graphics techniques.
Speakers:
Holger Gruen, AMD
Simon Green, Senior Software Engineer, NVIDIA
Ashu Rege, Developer Relations, Nvidia
Richard Huddy, Developer Relations Manager, AMD
Nicolas Thibieroz, European Developer Relations, AMD
Sarah Tariq, Developer Technology Software Engineer, NVIDIA
Jon Story, AMD
Cem Cebenoyan, Developer Technology Manager, NVIDIA
(103) Lua Scripting in Game Production
Session Description:
This full day tutorial aims to provide a comprehensive technical overview of the use of Lua script and the Lua Virtual Machine in modern game engines, with a particular emphasis on the challenges of deploying a scripting solution on current console hardware. We will open with an introduction to Lua, followed by 3 case studies of Lua usage in shipped games, and close with a more technical discussion of optimizing Lua for game consoles.
Takeaway:
Lua is a popular choice for game scripting. Mark DeLoura´s middleware survey showed over 50% using Lua in their games, but also that "people tend to have a love/hate relationship with it". Our aim is to provide a one-stop-shop for those teams looking to explore using Lua; give an honest overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the language and provide attendees with the a recipe book of the most common deployment and optimization techniques. These discussions will be underpinned by real tales from the trenches using shipped games as case studies and with talks from industry experts as well as console optimization experts. This tutorial is aimed at the game engine programmer who will integrate Lua with the engine, the tools programmer responsible for providing a solid workflow for the gameplay programmers and also the technical leads who are planning their production pipelines.
Speaker:
Steve Collins, CTO/Founder, Kore Virtual Machines
Brett Mogilevsky, Senior Manager, SCEA
Roberto Ierusalimschy, Professor, University of PUC Rio
Paul Du Bois, Senior Programmer, Double Fine
Don Veca, Audio Director, EA Redwood Shores
Jonathan Shaw, Lead Gameplay Programmer, Lionhead
Allan Murphy, Senior Software Development Engineer, Microsoft/Xbox
(104) Learn Better Game Writing in a Day
Session Description:
Former Marvel Comics editor/writer Evan Skolnick´s popular presentation on the fundamentals of better game writing is again being made available to the next generation of game writers. This comprehensive, day-long tutorial – incorporating insightful lectures, entertaining examples and skill-building exercises – offers writers of novice to intermediate experience an opportunity to learn (or re-learn) the basics of good story structure, vibrant character development, and snappy dialogue writing. Prior attendees of this tutorial have called it "innovative" and "better than a college class on writing!" This year´s presentation will incorporate examples from recent games, including narratively-focused offerings such as BioShock, Portal and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, on which Skolnick was the lead writer.
The tutorial starts with a broad overview of narrative content´s place in videogames, and segues into an introduction to some of the main theories of story, including the Three Act Structure (a la Aristotle, Field, McKee) and the Hero´s Journey (Campbell, Vogler). Next, a basic "writer´s toolkit" is provided, covering vital rules and tools related to exposition delivery, believability, and impact on the audience. Characters and characterization are covered next, followed by a focus on writing and editing game dialogue. Finally, a case study of a shipped game is provided, complete with behind-the-scenes insights and rationales.
Video examples from games and movies are sprinkled throughout the presentation, as well as individual and group writing exercises that serve to break up the day while reinforcing the many concepts being presented.
Narrative design and writing for video games has never been a hotter topic, and nowhere else can game designers and aspiring game writers get a more compact, entertaining and effective primer.
Takeaway:
Through a series of insightful lectures, entertaining examples and skill-building exercises, attendees of this tutorial will gain insight and ability in the area of fiction writing for videogames.
Speaker:
Evan Skolnick, Producer / Editorial Director, Vicarious Vision
(201) Level Design in a Day: Best Practices from the Best in the Business
Session Description:
In this intense day-long tutorial, attendees will gain deep insights from some of the most experienced level designers in the industry. The tutorial will cover every aspect of the level design process, from basic navigation and object manipulation tips and tricks to best practices for encounter design and level flow. As the development discipline responsible for crafting the vastly important moment-to-moment player experience, a deep understanding of core level design principles becomes essential for level designers, game designers and design managers alike. Likewise, an intimate familiarity with the level creation process can be a massive advantage to producers, testers or artists. This year´s session will focus on the Unreal Engine, while subsequent years will focus on Source, Quake, and other popular engines.
Intended Audience:
Level designers, mission designers, game designers and scripters will gain deep insights into the best practices and proven processes used by our industry’s leading teams. Additionally, writers, level artists and quality assurance professionals will come away from this talk better prepared to collaborate and contribute to the level creation process. All attendees should have a solid understanding of the level design process, as well as a basic familiarity with the tools of the trade. Experience with the Unreal Editor will also be beneficial this year, but is not required to fully participate in the tutorial.
Takeaway:
Newcomers to the world of level design will gain a solid foundation in the art and science of level design while experienced level designers will come away from the talk with a bevy of tips, tricks, and best practices in use by some of the best level designers in the industry. Experienced producers, artists and testers will gain an intimate understanding of the level design process, and will be better equipped to manage and collaborate with this essential part of the game development process.
Speakers:
Coray Seifert, Game Designer, THQ - Kaos Studios
Matthias Worch, Senior Level Designer, Visceral Games
Neil Alphonso, Lead Level Designer, Splash Damage
Richard Carlson, Level Designer/game designer/musician/sfx dood, Digital Eel
Ed Byrne, Creative Director, Zipper Interactive
Forrest Dowling, Lead Multiplayer Level Designer, THQ - Kaos Studios
Joel Burgess, Lead Level Designer, Bethesda Softworks
Jim Brown, Lead Level Designer, Epic Games
(202) Physics for Programmers
Session Description:
As the complexity of games as increased, so has the knowledge needed to create them. Creating the latest code for graphics, animation, physical simulation, even some extent artificial intelligence, requires greater knowledge of the necessary engineering and mathematical underpinnings than ever before. And of the fields described above, one that has grown increasingly important is physical simulation, as shown by the latest games such as Little Big Planet and Crayon Physics. Creating such a simulation may appear to be a daunting task, but it is possible with the right background.
This one-day tutorial continues the ten-year tradition of the "Math for Programmers" and "Physics for Programmers" tutorials by bringing together some of the best presenters in gaming physics. Over the course of a day they will get programmers up to speed in the latest techniques and deepen their knowledge in the topic of physical simulation.
These presenters will provide a toolbox of techniques for programmers interested in creating physics engines, with references and links for those looking for more information. The focus of the course is to study various pieces of the simulation pipeline and show how problems along the way can be solved and optimized using standard 3D mathematical concepts and engineering know-how. Topics include collision detection, constraint systems and solvers, cloth simulation, networking for physics programmers, and parallelizing the physics engine. Sample code libraries and examples are provided.
Takeaway:
After attending this tutorial, the attendee should have an understanding of most of the core issues in simulation, so that they can take them into account when building their own physics and collision engines and incorporating them into their games.
Speakers:
Jim Van Verth, Senior Tools and Technology Engineer, Insomniac Games
Glenn Fiedler, Online Game Programmer, Sony Santa Monica
Erin Catto, Physics Programmer, Blizzard Entertainment
Marq Singer, Engineer, Red Storm Entertainment, Inc
Erwin Coumans, Physics Simulation Team Lead, Sony SCEA US R&D
Takahiro Harada, Senior Software Engineer, Havok
Squirrel Eiserloh, Director, TrueThought
(204) Producers Boot Camp
Session Description:
With each new generation of gaming hardware - capabilities are increased, customer expectations are raised, games become more complex and team sizes grow larger. Now more than ever, in the controlled chaos that is game development, the role of the Producer is critical to the success of shipping a blockbuster title. Successful Producers are much more than just schedule jockeys; they are team managers, communication facilitators, conflict mediators, risk mitigators, work enablers and predictors of the future.
The Producer Boot Camp focuses on some of the key skills required by Producers, both new to the role and seasoned veterans, to be successful in this challenging industry.
Speakers:
TBA
(205) Audio Boot Camp
Session Description:
Audio for games and other interactive entertainment has grown far beyond simple mash-ups of technical concepts with linear audio design techniques. Today´s games require responsive and dynamic musical scores; ambiences, sound effects, and dialog that respond to player actions; immersive and accurate player-surrounding soundscapes; not to mention AI driven dynamic control of the overall mix.
The Audio Boot Camp offers an introduction to the wide array of topics that comprise the burgeoning game audio industry, with an increasing focus on harnessing tools and technology to serve the artistic needs of the title.
Speakers:
Scott Selfon, Microsoft
Dan Bardino, Creative Services Manager, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
(207) Intel Game Performance Workshop
Session Description:
Join Intel's game performance experts for an interactive day, optimizing a threaded PC game demo. We have brand-new machines for you to use while you optimize CPU and graphics code. We'll be using the latest Intel performance tools, including the popular Intel Graphics Performance Analyzer. By the end of the day, you'll have all the knowledge you need to optimize your own game.
Speakers:
Paul Lindberg (Senior Software Engineer, Intel)
Brad Werth (Senior Software Engineer, Intel)
Orion Granatir (Senior Software Engineer, Intel)
(208) MySpace Tutorial Day: Game Development on Social Platforms
The MySpace tutorial day is centered around the theme of "Game Development on Social Platforms". We want to provide a comprehensive day of understanding how to build for social platforms, the business aspects of developing social games, and how you can tap MySpace’s massive and highly engaged audience. We’ll have our developer and mobile team on hand to help you along the way and you’ll be able to hear from different partners in the ecosystem on how to be successful. If you're considering or already developing social games, this tutorial day is for you.
Click here to view the list of speakers and the agenda.
(209) V-Con 2010: How Games-as-a-Service & Virtual Items Have Changed the Playbook Forever (Presented by Live Gamer)
V-Con is a 1-day exploration into how Games-as-a-Service and Virtual Items have changed the playbook forever. Led by the game industry's most sought-after CEO's, founders, visionaries, and executives, we'll discuss the industry's undisputed transition to this new business model, as well as its ramifications on development, product management, operations, and strategy.
(300) The 10th Annual Game Design Workshop
Session Description:
This intensive 2-day workshop will explore the day-to-day craft of game design through hands-on activities, group discussion, analysis and critique. Attendees will immerse themselves the iterative process of refining a game design, and discover design concepts that will help them think more clearly about their designs and make better games. The workshop presents a formal approach to game design, in which games viewed as systems, and analyzed in terms of their Mechanics, Dynamics and Aesthetics.
Before we can even begin to design a game, we need to understand our aesthetic goals. In other words, we need to enumerate all the kinds of "fun" that we hope the game will provide its users. We can formalize our understanding of our game’s aesthetic goals by formulating an aesthetic model for each goal - a formal description of the goal that identifies its criteria for success and possible modes of failure. The workshop will present a handful of aesthetic models as examples, and also encourage attendees to formulate their own. During the game design exercises, attendees will use aesthetic models as a yardstick to measure their progress throughout the design process.
Working in small groups, attendees will be given specific games to play, and will analyze them in terms of aesthetic goals and models. Several different games will be explored, and common game design themes will be identified as different groups share their results. For each game that they analyze, attendees will be presented with a concrete design exercise to undertake. An exercise might involve adding a new feature, accommodating a new goal or requirement, or fixing a design flaw. These exercises will challenge attendees to analyze and identify the design principles at work in a game, and to think flexibly and creatively while working within design constraints. They will serve as a starting point for discussing how the iterative design applies to games in digital and non-digital media.
In addition to these analysis-and-revision exercises, attendees will gain further practical experience working with these models through brief collaborative design projects, brainstorming sessions, critical analysis and discussion.
Takeaway:
Game designers and programmers will leave this workshop with new abstract tools for analyzing and improving their own game designs, a deeper understanding of iterative design, and other lessons that emerge from the small group discussions with their peers.
Speaker:
Marc LeBlanc, Mind-Control
(308) Microsoft Game Developer Days
10am - 6pm on March 9 & 10
Session Description:
Come join us for a series of 12 technical sessions over two-days. You will learn the latest in tools and technologies for Xbox 360, Games for Windows – LIVE, XNA Game Studio and Windows Phone.
Speakers:
TBA
