Conference Talks

GDC

Cinematic Environment Production for Uncharted 4

Learn how Naughty Dog takes narrative-driven spaces in Uncharted 4 from concept through environment-production polish.

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

GDC

Can You See Me Now? Building Robust AI Sensory Systems

Explore how robust sensory systems help game AI respond more effectively to player inputs.

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

GDC

Embracing Ambiguity - How to Do Good Work When You Don't Know What to Do

A GDC session on recognizing when ambiguity is a production problem and choosing practical ways to do good work despite uncertainty.

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

GDC

Narrative Sorcery - Coherent Storytelling in an Open World

Explore how defensive logic keeps stories coherent when designing and scripting narrative for an open-world game.

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

GDC

Noise-Based RNG

Explores how noise functions can replace random number generators in game math libraries with faster, smaller, more flexible implementations.

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

GDC

Procedural World Generation of Far Cry 5

A technical look at Ubisoft’s procedural tools for generating Far Cry 5’s biomes, terrain textures, freshwater networks, and cliff rocks.

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

GDC

A No-Nonsense Approach to Designing Horizon Zero Dawn's Robot Dinosaurs

A GDC art direction session on creating the visual style of Horizon Zero Dawn’s robotic dinosaur enemies.

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

GDC

Bridging the Gap Between UX Principles and Game Design

Explore how UX principles and game design can work together to improve the overall gameplay experience.

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

GDC

Skill-Building Series - Pixel Art and Animation in the Hi-Bit Age

Explore techniques, tools, and innovative approaches for creating pixel art and animation for contemporary games.

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

GDC

Taming the Chaos - Lessons in Project Management

Learn project management lessons for delivering great games on schedule without exceeding budgets or exhausting the team.

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

GDC

Mining Your Own Design - Crafting the Crafting System in Astroneer

Game designers explain how deepening understanding of Astroneer’s existing design enabled major crafting-system changes without destabilizing the game.

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

GDC

Quad Mesh Simplification in Frostbite

Explore how Frostbite procedurally generates quality levels of detail for in-game models through quad mesh simplification.

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

GDC

Extreme SIMD - Optimized Collision Detection in Titanfall

A GDC talk on using extreme SIMD optimization to make Titanfall’s already optimized continuous collision detection code more than twice as fast.

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

GDC

Capturing Great Footage for Game Trailers

A trailer editor shares techniques for capturing compelling in-game footage that gives video game trailers strong visual material.

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

GDC

The Holy Grail of Multiplayer Level Design - Casual and Competitive Maps

A GDC talk on designing casual and competitive multiplayer maps for Paladins, covering Hi-Rez Studios’ level-design processes.

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