Austin GDC Program Guide 2008

September 15-17, 2008 A ust i n C onvent i on C ent er • A ust i n , TX SESSIONS – TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16 DESIGn – lECTurE PiRaTes of THe CaRibbean online: Lessons Learned Mike Goslin (Walt Disney Internet Group) 3 - 4PM | Room 5 Building and launching an MMOG based on the hugely successful Pirates of the Caribbean movie and theme park franchise was an adventure in its own right. We learned a lot and are prepared to share some of our hard earned knowledge. Attendees will come away with an understanding of some of the pitfalls and opportunities that present themselves during the development of a casual MMOG, as well as some practical solutions or approaches that they can apply to their own projects. SOCIAl nETWOrkInG & COMMunITy – lECTurE the leading game delivery solutions developer and makers of the Solid Axis™ CURRENT patching solution, will discuss these challenges and identify the key areas that will help you to manage and deliver patches efficiently, reliably, and in a way that is convenient for you and your gamers. TEChnOlOGy & SErvICES, SESSIOn Pamper your Pet with CPU Power Brad Werth (Intel) 3 - 4PM | Room 8C Sponsored by Intel MMOs and other games with third-person perspectives often use pets as a fun character customization option. Make your game’s helper robot, demon, or ball of fluff more compelling by scaling up your pet’s animation with multi-core CPU power. We’ll show code and demos of interactive pets that look good on your min spec and look absolutely fantastic on quad-core, all without impacting your framerate. The techniques are equally applicable to main characters. TEChnOlOGy & SErvICES and more complex plots continues to grow. This presentation, led by one of the most successful episodic game creators in the industry, will explore and explain the components necessary to develop compelling content for a wide audience utilizing the episodic format as the vehicle. The lecture will also outline and discuss the process and tools that lead to success in episodic mainstream content for games. TEChnOlOGy & SErvICES – SESSIOn Voice as a Service: Delivering Voice in Flash and Casual Games Mike Rojas (Green-Ear Gaming) 4:30 - 5:30PM | Room 8A/B Sponsored by Green-Ear Gaming In this informative session, Green-Ear CEO Mike Rojas, discusses easy and innovative ways to integrate voice technology, real-time Text to Speech and more into flash and casual games. For the independent developer and studio alike, Green-Ear’s SDK gives developers the tools to simply and affordably socialize their game. Gain insight to this rapidly growing trend and how it is helping to monetize casual games. Then, have your voice heard as you provide feedback for future implementations based on developer needs. AuDIO – SESSIOn Gaming Communities & Kids: Do You Know Your ABCs? Rebecca Newton (MindCandy.com), Richard Weil (Cartoon Network) 3 - 4PM | Room 9 During the past 2 years, online games and virtual worlds designed for young people between the ages of 7 and 12 have flourished. This trend is expected to continue at a rapid rate. This discussion will focus on restrictions and opportunities within community relations tasks for young gamers. It will also address how to best balance the community relations effort within the specialized universe of young peoples’ online games and virtual worlds. TEChnOlOGy & SErvICES – lECTurE Using the Versant Object Database in Your Next MMO Derek Laufenberg (Versant), Robert Greene (Versant) 3 - 4PM | Room 8A/B Sponsored by Versant Future-proof scalability and performance, easy-tochange game data models: Learn how Versant’s scalable object database architecture is an ideal solution for MMO storage requirements. A realistic and detailed game object model is used to demonstrate the Versant architecture complete with example code. Important concepts such as object identity, concurrency, micro-transactions, balanced caching, and simulation persistence, are examined. WrITInG FOr GAMES – rOunDTABlE Wwise Best Practices: A Case Study with Microsoft Game Studios Simon Ashby (Audiokinetic), Kristofor Mellroth (Microsoft Game Studios) 4:30 - 5:30PM | Room 10 Sponsored by AudioKinetics Audio is one of the most powerful and costeffective ways to improve the overall gaming experience. Yet it remains the least utilized aspect of game development to date. Wwise, the industry’s only complete audio pipeline solution, can help game developers make the most out of their game audio. In this session, Kristofor Mellroth and Simon Ashby will use concrete examples to discuss several Wwise best practices used to efficiently plan a project, improve audio in games, and deliver great sound experiences. BuSInESS & MArkETInG – lECTurE Accelerating Programming Teams in an Iterative Environment Damon Osgood (BioWare Austin) 3 - 4PM | Room 4 Agile development processes - in particular Scrum and iterative development - are being employed more and more in game development environments. But a key ingredient in a highly agile and iterative process is rapid feedback – knowing as soon as possible whether you are on the right path, or whether a course correction is necessary. This talk will describe the technologies and techniques used by the programmers on Bioware’s MMORPG project to achieve high predictability and flexibility in the programming schedule. TEChnOlOGy & SErvICES – SESSIOn IGDA Writing SIG Group Gathering Wendy Despain (Quantum Content) 3 - 4PM | Room 3 Here’s your chance to meet members of the International Game Developer’s Writing Special Interest Group and find out more about our goals to improve the state of the art of game writing. Members and curious bystanders alike will share their positive experiences as writers in the industry, as well as discuss the obstacles writers face and brainstorm ways to overcome them. Overall, this group gathering is a chance for all to talk about what the organization is doing and what else can be done to help working game writers do their jobs better. WrITInG FOr GAMES – lECTurE How the World Pays Kevin Higgins (PayByCash) 4:30 - 5:30PM | Room 6 Localization requires diversity of languages and of customer payment methods beyond credit cards alone. A large percentage of potential online gaming customers outside North America either cannot or will not use credit cards for online payments. Understanding how customers throughout the world pay for online digital content not only includes them as premium content customers, it increases your online games’ revenues and importance. Keep Your Gamers CURRENT – Best Practices for Seamless, Reliable Patch Delivery Travis Hilterbrand (Solid State Networks, Inc.) 3 - 4PM | Room 2 Sponsored by Solid State Networks Game updates present a series of challenges to developers, publishers, and gamers alike. Ultimately, you want your gamers playing your game rather than updating it. Solid State Networks, The Sandwich of the Month Club: Writing and Designing Successful Episodic Games Dave Grossman (Telltale Games) 3 - 4PM | Ballroom B As episodic content becomes more and more prevalent, the demand for compelling game storylines based on well-developed characters Audio Business & Marketing Game Design Social Networking & Community Technology & Services Writing for Games 13 https://www.cmpevents.com/GDAU08/a.asp?option=C&V=1&cid=AGC08_PGWPX2

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Austin GDC Program Guide 2008

Austin GDC Program Guide 2008 Contents Conference-at-a-Glance General Information Conference Overview Advisory Board Keynote Speakers Conference Sessions Game Career Seminar Worlds in Motion Summit Austin GDC Events Austin GDC Evening Events Speakers Sponsors & Media Partners Exhibitor Directory Expo Hall Map & Exhibitors

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