Max Frorer's GDC Experience

Post date: Mar 07, 2017 6:43:50 AM

I felt much more prepared at my second GDC in both portfolio and overall understanding of the convention. Recruiters responded very positively to my portfolio however I had to explain what my focus was and that lead to most of them telling me to be more specialized. However I learned that Indie Devs and smaller studios appreciate a more broad portfolio which is interesting to know. 

Wednesday:

I spent the morning of my first day at GDC finding booths that were most interesting and important to me. I then planned my time accordingly so I wouldn't spend half the day waiting in a line to check out an Oculus demo or waiting for a portfolio review. The first think that amazed me at GDC, which I forgot about from my last experience, was that the convention wasn't just game artists, it was anyone that was interested in games. I met a sound designer and we got to talk about how important sound is in games as well as what he works on specifically. It turned out he was the lead sound designer for Horizon Zero Dawn, Battlefield 1 and numerous other titles. It was incredible to run into people like that. Everyone was extremely friendly and open to talk about whatever they were doing. I got to play many games that have not been released publicly yet, and it was amazing to talk to the developers about their games asking questions as well as giving feedback. VR was everywhere this year. Last year there were only a couple places where you could try them out, this year it seemed like every other booth was featuring VR in some way. 

I found it was best to add people on LinkedIn right as soon as possible after meeting them. For the people I really wanted to keep in touch with I sent emails asking to keep in touch. 

Thursday:

I had already explored the Expo floor enough on Wednesday so I spent this day going to specific booths and talking to the developers there. The Algorithmic booth gave talks throughout the day and I sat in on most of those. Epic was announced a ton of news for what they were going to do with their engine next. Algorithmic's booth was bigger this year and received much more attention. Unreal Engine was also featured more through other booths. Many Indie Developers, Houdini, and countless other programs used Unreal Engine to show off their work. I got to speak with several of the developers at EPIC asking advice on how to improve as an artist as well as discuss Unreal Engine 4's future. One conversation I had with an Epic developer I got to bounce ideas off them on what their engine could improve on as well as talk about why Ringling used it and why it is such a successful engine. Talking to these developers and hearing their stories of how they got in the industry was also fascinating. Brad Smith gave a talk about a new Substance feature. He went in depth about applying a heat to a mech, showing the effect of heated and damaged metal. Brad Smith gave an excellent talk using Substance Painter. He went in depth about creating a heat map which he could apply to a mech showing different variations of heat and damage effecting the machines surface. 

I attached a picture below of the different paint damage material possibilities.

Friday:

The last day was very relaxed in comparison to the first two days. I talked to some of the indie developers I had met the day before and gave more feedback and input on their games. One of the games was to be released on the Xbox One and it was made by two guys. We had a long discussion about how to keep a game alive and why certain games bring players back after years after its release and why others die just months after release. Their game focused on a couch coop experience which was something I really appreciated. With VR and countless next gen titles, games are moving away from the split screen experience so it was nice to see developers wanting to bring back the nostalgia of older split screen multiplayer games. Other than my talk with them, I attended the Killer Portfolio Review which consumed the rest of the day. I met with the lead Character Artist at Firaxis Games who gave very encouraging words but told be to be more specialized. 

After the Expo on all 3 of these days I attended parties which I found invaluable for networking. Things are less formal and you get to see what game developers are like as people and it is incredibly reassuring to see that they are just like us, just a bit older.