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Get A Sneak Peek At Some Of The Talks You'll See At GDC 2017
This year's GDC has some thought-provoking talks lined up, but don't take our word for it – some of the event's speakers have recorded short pitches for why you should attend their panels, which you can watch right here.
This year's talks cover a wide variety of topics, from a postmortem on the elementary school favorite Oregon Trail, to the surreal, ballet-driven world of Bound. Here are some brief preview videos from a few of the speakers, as well as descriptions of the talks courtesy of GDC's website.
Classic Game Postmortem:
Oregon Trail
Speaker: Don Rawitsch, Oregon Trail co-creator
'Oregon Trail' began
as a mainframe-based game invented by three prospective teachers in Minnesota.
Due to its simulation of historical events, its early use of putting the player
into a story, and its unique game model for the time, 'Oregon Trail' became a
classroom favorite, first in Minnesota, and then nationwide in the U.S. and
beyond as it was converted to the initial generation of personal computers and
enhanced over time. Don Rawitsch will discuss the serendipitous invention of
the game, its simulation model, how it maintained popularity for a period of
over 20 years, and its influence on other educational software.
Force and Fire:
Making Your Game More Metal
Speaker: Jeff Howard, Associate Professor of Game
Development and Design, Dakota State University
Inflame your game with heavy metal's
abyssal fires! Storming the gates of narrative design demands a fallen angel's
grand vision, so metal pervades every aspect of your game's soul: audio, writing,
art direction, and world-building. In the beginning is the song; the song
spawns the word; the word forges the world.
Unscoring the World of
Kenshi
Speakers: Kole Hicks, Composer & Sound Designer; Chris
Hunt, Creator, Lo-Fi Games Ltd.
In this talk you'll
hear from the creator and audio designer of the hit indie game, "Kenshi," as
they share the details behind crafting the music and sound for a gritty,
unforgiving, and indifferent world. You'll learn about their unique approach to
creating appropriate audio for "Kenshi" and how they designed the systems.
Throughout the event they'll highlight specific talking points and demonstrate
their audio system in Wwise.
Bound: Emotions
Through Ballet and Modern Art
Speaker: Michal Staniszewski, Creative Director, Plastic
Attendees will learn
how Plastic developed the unique idea of putting a ballerina into a game
and in general how they searched and explored new ideas. Michal will also talk
about creating emotional games that players can relate to more than they do
with movies.
GDC 2017 runs from February 27 to March 3. Game Informer editors will be in attendance, so you can expect impressions straight from the show floor.
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