My GDC experience 2015 chapter 02

The first two days of the conference are the quieter days. Only a few thousand people in attendance. During these two days, most of the action is happening in talks and sponsored events, since the expo floor isn't yet open nor set up.
 Throughout west hall, many small showcases had been set up.  Ubisoft had a booth., as well as microsoft, and a collection of board games were set up for attendees to play and critique. Indie developers were set up and in a small collection. there you could play some of their games such as mushroom 2 and that dragon cancer. The wild rumpus was a popular place of interest, with prime, main floor real estate, and a relaxed atmosphere where many people congregated to play some experimental games and relax in massive bean bag chairs.

Running through the whole event, there was an underlying feeling of professionalism. Everyone was there to network, and engage with the industry, but being as everyone was passionate and respectful about each other, it wasn't too serious. Signs promoting employment, didn't take themselves too seriously, though their missing commas did annoy the grammar nazi in me. 

My monday was my most art intensive knowledge day. I sat in the talks labeled the art direction boot camp. these talks focused on the simple ideas of being a good art director, such as being a cheerleader for a project first, and making the team excited to work on it, a "boss" second. Other talks focused on taking the stress off of art directors thinking of themselves as the top or bottom of the pyramid, and attempted to sell the idea of working more as a key component in the middle of the process, funneling everything into a working project.  

Other talks focused on adding women to games, and how thinking differently can set a project apart from others. a simple concept, but it does raise good questions such as how can one take a tired trope such as zombies, and make it interesting- or as the art director of ninja theory discussed, how they took hell and make it bright and colorful, because reality equals pain. A good thesaurus can go a long way for creativity.

 My monday evening was more hanging out with the various CAs. It was really surreal for me to play card games and talk about life with people who are professionals in the industry, getting paid to make the games i enjoy playing.


My tuesday started well.

there are perks to living in a hostel. though you may sleep across the hall from a man who sounds like a blender full of rocks is shoved up his nose, you may also wake up to free bread.

 As a CA every morning begins with a morning meeting.  Today an acapella choir made of CAs sang for the other CAs.
Here cool concepts of the conference are brought up such as the use of the gender neutral bathrooms, and the introduction of a gender neutral pronoun "E".

I didn't have much time to attend talks on this day, having a full day of work shifts, I only attended one talk about level design.  The speakers were, Steve Gaynor and Kate Craig, who worked on the game "Gone home" and they, discussed creating non linear experiences in linear environments, and creating realistic feeling environments by using iconic images that people associate with a given space. In other words to create a child's bedroom, it may be too time consuming to create every asset one might see in entering the room of a real life child, but by modeling a teddy bear, and having a bed, the age of the child starts to become a given, and the rooms purpose is also expressed; simply with two assets.

This night many of the more experienced CAs came together and provided portfolio reviews and resume critiques to those who may be looking for work. There was discussion on how to best present oneself, and even a bit of talk on how to shake hands with potential contacts. Some of us were warned that QA can be a black hole in some places, being a void where many aspiring developers cannot find a foothold to get out and grow, and we agreed overall that cover letters are a universal annoyance for most- including recruiters.
 It was explained that sometimes, a form of... creative lying.... may be necessary, but to think of it as lying isn't the best look on the idea. An interview is a game, and if the game isn't played, the interviewee becomes a victim, not an asset to a company. so if one responds to a call by saying "I need to check my availability for this month, I am booked solid," Knowing full well there is nothing going on for them this month, much less this week; it isn't lying so much as it is doing what is necessary to be wanted and appreciated.

Branding was also brought up as a reminder that we are always promoting our personal brand. every action we do affects our personal brand. we were advised to buy our domain names and get professional emails. If someone is asked what others think of them, it shouldn't be a question one responds to with shrugged shoulders but rather an answer given with confidence, knowing they have sculpted the vision that others see of their brand.