GDC Conference

The lectures are AWESOME, but engineering-wise probably a little more cutting-edge than what indies care too much about. Business related talk I find very interesting, though. And it's invaluable if you are a good networker (and if you have old contacts you want to keep in touch with). If you are prepared to network some, I'd say the indie pass, where you get to go to a limited number of lectures, is the best deal. Yes, it's worth it.

 

They also have an option where you can buy single session passes during the regular conference (wed thru fri). If there's only one or two panels you feel you must attend, then that's a bit cheaper. More than that, consider the next level.

 

I felt the Casual Games Summit last year (just one day long) was more informative and useful than the GDC lectures. This year there is a two day CGS running at the same time as the new Independent Games Summit (M-Tu).

My expectation is that those 2 days will be far more valuable to Indies/Casual game developers than the main conference. (unless you are going for networking in which case it may be a bit of a toss-up)

 

Here's an older blog entry from Jeff Tunnell (of GarageGames) thats asks the question "Is Game Developers Conference Worth the Investment?"

http://makeitbigingames.com/blog/?p=26

 

I've been going to GDC both as a speaker and as a visitor.

I found the tutorials were boring and uninteresting but maybe it's because of my previous work knowledge and working experience so it's difficult to say for an indie.

I agree with DrWilloughby, lectures are probably the most interesting stuff at GDC from a developer point of view (not from a business one) although quite high technically speaking. At least I enjoyes lectures the most. You could check designers track as ideas are accessibles to anyone (I love Will Wright lectures).

I also liked the "indie booth" in the expo room, but the rest was pretty dull (ho the job fair though is a good idea if you search for a job as you can meat company recruiter directly)

The first time you go to GDC is by far the most exciting one, after that, it's a bit "yeah, I've seen that"

EDIT: I agree with the blog article, GDC is more of a personal experience, I'm unsure about the real return on investment for indie.
Whatever your decision, if you decide to go, enjoy your time there!

 

If you're a programmer who likes to keep up with what other programmers are doing, or likewise an audio engineer or artist in a similar position, you can probably get a good deal out of the lectures and various sessions. That said, you can also get the audio from each of them after the conference is over for considerably less than $600.

If you're looking for a job (non-indie games industry) and/or looking to talk to publishers, distributors and the like, GDC is a good place to be, but you don't really need much more than the expo pass and the ability to talk to people. Go to the parties.... all of them that fit your particular lookings-for.

What is YOUR situation? What are you after?

-Tim

 

I found the lectures of little value, mostly because I already knew the people giving them and have either heard them before locally, or have already invested time into the subject they have discussed.

I dont think you can ever really get deep into a subject in such a short time (as a small lecture like these).

So in essense, I think I'd rather spend the money on a good set of books, as I'll learn more.

Having said that, as others have said here, if you have business, want to network, want to get the vibe of fellow developers etc. Then I think it CAN be worth it.

But there may be more valuable things you can do with your time and money.

 

If you want to meet other developers and get connections, it's well worth it.

What you'll get from the lectures depends what you're interested in, and what you want to learn.

I'll be there all week, put it that way

 

FYI: The casual games summit is mostly about business, marketing, game design. It focuses on things like what kind of game to make and how to sell it. But it doe not cover much about HOW to MAKE a casual game. The classic part of the show (3 days of lectures) gets more into actual programming issues for all games and some of this is relevant to indie and casual games.

BTW: I will be moderating the only technical session of the casual games summit. It is a panel about engines/frameworks including the PopCap framework, Torque, Flash, Jave, and the PlayFirst framework.

 

I'm looking at the website now and only "Tutorial-Only" Pass explicitly state it covers the Casual Games Summit. Do you know if "Independent Games Summit Expo" or "Independent Games Summit Classic" pass both covers the Casual Games Summit?

I'm still debating between the Independent Games Expo vs Classic pass, how relevant are the 300 lectures to indie/casual game development?

-Steve Z.

 

We went to GDC 2004 as part of the Independent Games Festival, where we did demos of Fashion Cents. I didn't have an opportunity to attend many lectures - the only one I attended was a TryMedia talk on securing your games, which ended up just being a sales pitch for their product.

The big thing for us was the fact that we came away from GDC with a stack of business cards 3 inches thick. The contacts we made by talking to people who stopped by to see our game was invaluable. I still keep in touch with several folks I met.

I would recommend going at least once, just to network and meet as many people as you can.

I'm actually thinking about going to the Independent Games Summit for the first time this year, for that very reason.

 

I’m going to miss GDC this year for the second time in 10 years, and I’ve been a speaker there several times. Given that background to filter my thoughts against, here are my thoughts on GDC.

As a programmer, I don’t find the majority of the programming track worth my time anymore. One hour just isn’t enough time to go into much detail on a subject, and I’ve probably already heard about it and learned more thanks to the web. 10 years ago, it just wasn’t as easy to distribute info on the latest techniques and processed as it has become.

The only technical sessions that I’ve found useful in the last couple of years were some of the post-mortem type discussions of a game that was relevant to what I was doing. Hearing about the problems others ran into helps us to avoid making the same assumptions & mistakes.

The all-day tutorials are ok if you are beginner to intermediate in that topic. Teaching an all day tutorial by yourself is brutal.

Some of the legal and business sessions I have gotten a great deal out of. Of course, my knowledge level in those areas is much closer to beginner.

The round tables usually are not good for much more than shooting the bs about some topic. Even those I’ve moderated.

The people at the IGF competition are great to talk to and hang out with.

Getting invites to the parties can take some work, and can be worth it, even if you don’t drink (like me).

The expo can be interesting, and a good way to kill time if no session currently seems worthwhile.

In all of the above things, it may be worth just to make contacts. I am normally a quiet guy, but at GDC I turn into Mr. Super-Outgoing. I will often just walk up and introduce myself to people I think might be worth getting to know. Lots of very casual conversation can quickly lead to full introductions and exchanges. What do you have to lose? Wait.. see note below.

As someone else said:

I second that. That’s what I enjoy the most about GDC.

What do I enjoy the least about GDC?

Students.. Fraking Students. 10 years ago, heck maybe even 5 years ago, there were close to Zero students (level 0 noobs) attending GDC. Now, the conference is overrun with them… from Digipen, FullSail, Guildhall, and so on. Cocky bastards will talk your ears off, not let you go and beg you for a job. Carry a can of mace and use it on them if necessary. IMHO, they more than anything single other thing; have changed the flavor of the conference.

And as for jobs, it’s a really good place to go job hunting… but… there’s a catch. The job booths in the expo are basically there to collect resumes and provide sales pitches. The booths are manned by HR droids …They’ll call you -- don’t call them. If you know what’s going on, and have something to offer, there is a second level of job hunting. If you know people or can talk your way into it, ask to speak to the company’s technical director or similar person who is actually at GDC. You may have to wait or come back later. If you can talk to these people directly, you can bypass the whole HR giant boxes full of resumes and demo reels and quite possibly leave GDC with a job offer.

Finally, if you don’t live there or visit California very often, consider staying a couple extra days after the conference. Rent a convertible. Drive to the ocean, and through wine country. Make the most of it.

 

Ok, Upon re-reading that, boy do I come off as a grousing malcontent when it comes to students at GDC. So I'll publically reprimand myself for giving them a rap worse than they desreve.

In truth, I've hired a graduate of one of those schools for my current team. But it doesn't change the fact that they (in very large numbers) are the aspect of the GDC I currently like the least. Perhaps it's just my old-fart-ness not adapting well to change.

Ok, 'nuff said for now.

 

I'll be there all week, I'm looking forward to this one. Hope to see some of you there.

~g