Conference Talks

GDC

Gamifying Creativity in Chicory - A Colorful Tale

A game designer explains the workarounds and shortcuts used to make Chicory: A Colorful Tale work as a game about creativity.

• YouTube
• 36 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Conference Talk

GDC

My Elephant in the Room - An 'Old World' Postmortem

A game design postmortem on reducing scope and rote decisions in historical 4X games to make room for procedural characters and narrative.

• YouTube
• 1 hour 2 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Conference Talk

GDC

Restoring the Forest - Capturing the Themes of Kena Through VFX

Explore how Kena: Bridge of Spirits uses layered real-time visual effects to depict corruption, restoration, and regrowth.

• YouTube
• 29 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Conference Talk

GDC

Blowing from the West - Simulating Wind in 'Ghost of Tsushima'

Techniques for making wind-driven simulations in Ghost of Tsushima fast and believable while maximizing PlayStation GPU use.

• YouTube
• 29 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Conference Talk

GDC

Making Indie Games with Public Domain Content

Learn how public domain content can shape an indie game's visual and audio identity, support recognizable IP, and reach new audiences.

• YouTube
• 29 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Conference Talk

GDC

How NOT to Build a VR Arcade Game

A cautionary talk on the perils and pitfalls of starting a motion sickness-free VR arcade game company.

• YouTube
• 30 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Conference Talk

GDC

The Animated World of Ratchet and Clank - Rift Apart

Explore the process and inspiration behind animating cinematic cutscenes and gameplay for Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart.

• YouTube
• 58 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Conference Talk

GDC

Shader Sauce - How to Use Shaders to Create Stylized VFX

Learn fundamental shader concepts and reusable tricks for creating stylized visual effects without hand-drawn animation or complex simulations.

• YouTube
• 1 hour 1 minute
• Self-Paced
• Conference Talk

GDC

The Rust Programming Language for Game Tooling

Explore Rust’s opportunities and challenges for game tools programming, and how it can strengthen a game development tools arsenal.

• YouTube
• 30 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Conference Talk

GDC

Exploration in Ghost of Tsushima - Letting the Island Guide You

Designing environmental cues and world-guidance systems in Ghost of Tsushima to sustain curiosity, reveal content, and reinforce the fantasy of a lone samurai.

• YouTube
• 51 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Conference Talk

GDC

Can We Do It with Particles? - VFX Learnings from 'Returnal'

A technical look at using programmable particle systems, real-time fluid simulations, and particle hierarchies to build volumetric fog and tentacle effects in Returnal.

• YouTube
• 27 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Conference Talk

GDC

Recalibrating Our Limits - Lighting on Ratchet and Clank - Rift Apart

Learn how Insomniac Games adapted its lighting workflows and pipeline for next-generation visuals in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.

• YouTube
• 50 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Conference Talk

GDC

Dreamscaper - Killer Combat on an Indie Budget

A GDC session on designing satisfying combat systems and refining their feel and workflow for small indie teams.

• YouTube
• 1 hour 2 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Conference Talk

GDC

The Burden of Proof - Narrative Deduction Mechanics for Detective Games

Explores how Overboard!'s deduction system gives players specific feedback while preserving creative problem-solving in detective games.

• YouTube
• 59 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Conference Talk

GDC

Simulating Tropical Weather in Far Cry 6

Ubisoft developers explain the systems and techniques behind tropical weather simulation and dynamic weather transitions in Far Cry 6.

• YouTube
• 59 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Conference Talk