Miranda Thomas GDC 2013 Notes

Post date: Apr 09, 2013 3:27:56 PM

It seems like a lot of Ringlingers went to the same talks I did (makes sense)! So I’ll try and post notes from talks that haven’t been posted here yet. 

BUT FIRST SOME OVERALL NOTES

I volunteered for the second time this year. This was awesome because I got an All-Access pass for free, but ended up losing a lot of time to work (not only because I had to work talks in the middle of the day, preventing me from getting through portfolio review lines, but also because I had to be up to work early every morning and couldn’t stay out very late).  I look forward to the day that I can afford to go to GDC just for funsies, without volunteer work OR having to hussle for a job.

Anyway here are my notes:

“10 Questions: Am I Ready to Go Indie?”, Don Daglow

-Actually asked ten (plus bonus) questions and asked audience to write down the answers:

1. What game meant the most when you were young? Now?... why is that? Thinking about emotion, what is most important to game, why it was fun

2. When you go indie, what will your job title be and what will you do all day?... do you see yourself as an art or design lead? Are you a team member or do you prefer to work alone? Consider risk tolerance (family, obligations) and experience (are you familiar with problems that will come up and how to deal with them?)

3. Are you giving up a paying job, or can you pursue projects in your spare time?

4. How much money do you need to survive? How much does the team need?... factor in how long it will take to find a new job if things don’t work out. In the end, find out how long all teammates can survive

5. How many people depend on your income?

6. How does your partner feel about the risk?... family is probably more important than project

Example of Thatgamecompany… started as students, signed to a 3 product deal with Sony

So, high risk tolerance (just out of school, no family or jobs), low experience

But over time, experience increases but team grows so risk tolerance goes down

7. If you start and have success, what kind of commimtment are you making?... as a team member, this could be a short commitment, but if founder it could be long. Average 5 years… think long term!

Important things CEOs learn in their first year: Money kills most companies and is the most important thing, it’s all bs until the deal is signed and the money is in the bank, company is only as good as its weakest discipline

8. What’s the project where teammates and players most praised you for your work?... outside opinions on your strengths will be clearer than yours

9. What’s the biggest project you’ve shipped? Biggest role you’ve had? Biggest project you’ve led?... start from type/size of project you know. Even if you haven’t been a lead, have you learned from good leads?

10. How would you feel if everyone said your game sucked? What if it didn’t make money?... Be ready to face that, part of risk tolerance… or else you’ll never finish!

Bonus questions: What would you do if money was not an issue? What project do you remember most fondly and why?... further evidence of what is important to you, what kind of work you want to do

“Crowdfunding for Indies: Real Numbers and Trends”, Thomas Bidaux

            -Lots of numbers and suggestions for how to succeed/fail on Kickstarter.

-Kickstarter (US and UK only)… games pledge $45 million versus the next best crowdsourcing site, Indiegogo with $2.4 mil

-Need to have just the right goal… if people see that a kickstarter is not close to succeeding, most likely won’t back

-Needs an existing fanbase/community, or really good PR (people don’t browse kickstarter looking for things to back)

-PC games and niche market games have most luck

-React to audience opinions… be prepared to alter pitch/rewards based on feedback

-After fees, backers who fail to pay, rewards, etc… only about 60% actually goes to project

-Successful kickstarter needs lots of excitement all at the beginning, as that’s when most of the funding will take place (as noted, if the project doesn’t look like it’s going to meet it’s goal after that, it probably won’t be backed), but should remain active and interesting throughout

“We Are Not Heroes: Contextualizing Violence Through Narrative”, Walt Williams

Talking about Spec Ops: The Line and how it was written in an attempt to make the player feel that their actions had meaning, and make them consider violence in the game. Williams said that he didn’t think that games desensitized people to violence, but he did think that they desensitized us to GAME violence. In most shooters, it’s easy to shoot down humans without feeling any emotion or remorse over it. Williams says that, unlike a game where you kill aliens or monsters, killing humans should be meaningful, and the player should think about it.

He used techniques such as having the main character change over time (his attitude, appearance, and dialogue all become rougher, harsher) as well as the enemies (from confident to fearful). The game allows the player to make choices that don’t really have a right answer and usually end with someone dying. He gave an interesting example of giving the player an opportunity to judge themselves: in one sequence, the player is moving through an empty hallway when an unarmed woman runs by. Most players instinctively shoot her. There are no other characters around to witness this, and it has absolutely no consequences further along in the game. It is just one small event for the player to feel guilty about (or, as Max told me he did later, restart the level to not shoot her).

Interesting talk about a game I’m not sure I'm emotionally prepared to play!