Game Developer’s Conference GDC-2014 : Days Two and Three

DSU Sophmore Mostafa Haque, watching with awe as his space canine companion dooms him to a slow death, using the Occulus Rift.

From across the country, in a land of seafood, art and top hats, apparently, Trojan Times brings you the continuation of DSU game students’ escapades in the GDC.

The second day saw the end of the Student Poster Presentations and the beginning of many, more events. With posters on such games as Soul Reaver 2, Dragon Age: Origins, the Stanley Parable and the World Ends With You, DSU was well represented amongst the ranks of the student poster presenters.

Amongst the professional game designers DSU students connected with were Tom Abernathy, Narrative Lead of Riot Games, Fasih Sayin of Crytek Istanbul, and many, many more game writers.

Conversations with these incredible individuals proved invaluable to the DSU attendees and shall be relayed to the rest of the campus in the not-so-distant future (watch this space) for the betterment of all future or aspiring DSU game designers!

The third day, among other things, saw the much awaited opening of the Expo Floor and all the booths and stalls associated with it. From Microsoft to Sony, and from Occulus to Steam – almost every major player in the game industry were represented

This provided our game students an opportunity to get some, pardon the pun, hands-on experience with newer technology.

While some to fall short of the hype by a few blocks, others managed to restore our faith in advertising. But all of them definitely pushed the bounds of our imaginations and made us think of unorthodox approaches to video games.

The career booths were another major refresher to our game designer aspirants. The quality and quantity of works presented by many applicants was quite humbling. However, more importantly, it showed us just how far we had to go to make it. And I am sure this lesson would carry the new wave of DSU Game Designers to greater success.

Finally, the day ended with both the Game Developer’s Choice and IGF Award ceremonies. This ended up becoming the most inspirational part of the GDC as it showed us that independent games, made by teams as small as two people, could go toe-to-toe with industry giants and come out with the upper hand!

As for the daily (or not so daily) GDC advice, Trojan Times recommends you to:

 

  • Buy a tab to show off your works
  • Print out an off-line version of your portfolio