GDC 2012 begins in 7 days. I was wondering if any of you go or have gone to GDC, and whether you'll be going this year? I try to go every year, and this year I'll be there all week. Since I live in the Bay Area now, it's just a trip on the train in the morning to get there every day, so it's much less hassle than usual.
I'll be trying to get a few people to give me directions on which way my newest project should go. I've got a basic engine built and some gameplay in, but it's all very generic and I need to decide on a hook for the game.I'll be a Conference Associate this year, meaning I'll be a volunteer working for the conference. If you've never been to GDC, it's a great way to get a free full access pass and meet the speakers and the people behind the conference. You basically trade 20 hours of work for more networking in the industry than you can shake a stick at. This will be my second year of it and it's indescribable. It's too late to sign up for it this year for anyone interested, but you should all look into it. Registration will probably open in September for next year's CA program.If anyone wants to meet up and talk about game development stuff during GDC, just drop me a line. I've been in the industry three years now and I'm doing pretty well so I should be able to help steer any aspiring kids in the right direction. If you bring me something to show like your art or game prototypes, I'll give you an honest review and tell you what you need to do to them to get hired for your first job.
Great to have access to someone in the industry. One reason I wish you'd post more often.
Unfortunately, I live in the middle of nowhere (Mormonland, for those who don't already know), and don't really have access to events like this. I'm sure, though, that they wouldn't care as much for a GM or Unity submission as much as they would a real language, but hey man, if you want to be a test monkey and critic for projects that we find more serious, I think a lot of people will take you up on that.At least, those who appreciate the criticism.If I lived nearby, I'd do that volunteer thing. It sounds fun.
Is your "newest project" still in GM? Normally GM is implied, and someone has to say "my latest C# project" or something.@Kilin - You guys always have access to me to talk to. I check back to the site every few days now to see what people are up to and if I got a message or two I wouldn't hesitate to answer any questions I could. I would probably be willing to take a look at a project that was sent to me over the internet as long as it was compiled and working (or, if source, in Visual Studio C++ or C#).
@firestormx - Oh, sorry no. I haven't used GM for a while. I code in C# and Unity at work and C++ at home. So, my latest C++ project.Oh, so people do use Unity in the professional environment? That's kind of relieving, actually, especially since I recently started using it.
@Kilin - Yeah, you don't hear a lot about it in AAA stuff but we use Unity in the San Francisco office of BigPoint (http://www.bigpoint.com/). We make multiplayer web games so it's pretty good for our uses.
I would love to go, but I don't have the money to go all the way out to CA AND pay for a pass to get in. Maybe in two years or so…
Is your new project an online game? Can you teach me how to make an online game in C++? Just make the engine, and I'll learn from that.
I'll put your name in the credits in capital letters if you want.But in seriousness, what's the game about? You don't have to worry about us stealing your game ideas. We don't make games anymore. =/I never really worry about people stealing ideas. Most of the time I keep the things I am doing secret only because it makes me less motivated to accomplish them if I announce them (http://sivers.org/zipit)
I think I have enough motivation to keep me going though. I'm working on a turn-based strategy game based in a hexagonal world. Similar to Disgaea in art style. Similar to Final Fantasy Tactics in character ability design. It will have multiplayer and an item mall, almost entirely for glamour items but possibly character unlocks as well once I have a lot of characters in. It will be focused a lot on player content, with new maps being freely shareable and new abilities able to be submitted for review.Right now I have a basic strategy game done and I'm working on the character animation system for moving character objects during special attacks (like Disgaea's special moves, where they jump all over the screen or knock each other around). I'm going to show it at GDC, then work on refactoring it, then work on getting some non-programmer-art in there, putting in options for rendering methods (changing the art style of the game on the fly and having the ability to put more styles in is something I've been working on)…A lot of it is up in the air. I don't have a real "hook" yet like Disgaea's humor and varying complexity or Final Fantasy Tactics' epic storyline and great character balance… I'm going to be getting ideas at GDC. Once the game looks nice I'll probably start up a Kickstarter campaign to raise some money for art and music and sound effects, though I imagine I'll be creating a lot of that myself or with some friends…I'll let you guys see it when it is… presentable.That sounds pretty cool. =D
There's a lot of musicians here on 64D now.Find a way to make base building, like minecraft or terreria. =P