
GDC 2013 adds Pixar story, Activision Blizzard next-gen rendering talks
Game Developers Conference organizers have announced new talks for the upcoming March 2013 conference, including Pixar's 5 key plot points for great stories, Creative Assembly's Total War strategy design, and Activision Blizzard's next-gen programming tips for photo-realistic characters.
These talks are part of the Main Conference, encompassing the Design and Programming tracks, to be held Wed-Fri, March 27-29 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, CA.
For the Design track, Pixar's Matthew Luhn will make a rare video game conference appearance to present the lecture 'The 5 Key Plot Points to Creating a Great Story.'
Luhn, a story supervisor who has worked on standout Pixar titles such as Up and Monsters Inc., will explain how to create great stories and characters for animation, live action, and games. Using his tips, attendees will spend part of the session developing their own stories and characters with others.
Also part of the Design track, Creative Assembly's lead designer James Russell will provide insight into the dilemmas faced in 'Designing Grand Strategy: Making the Mechanics of Total War.' The acclaimed strategy game series evolved through internal debates on "realism, simulation versus game rules, mystery versus clarity, decisions and counterpoint, gameplay depth versus micromanagement, gameplay system dynamics, and more," which Russell will discuss in depth.