Confirmed sessions as of 7/18/18
Audio
Adapt or Die: Lessons Learned from a Career in Audio
Laura Taylor
I’ll take the audience on a journey through the many jobs I’ve held in my 27-year career, all of which have been audio-related. We’ll make pit stops at a few to discuss how I got that particular gig, the tools I learned and used, and what Big Picture Thing I learned from that job. For example, the Big Picture Lesson I learned from working at CNN Radio is that I don’t like working in news. This discovery guided my job searching years later. I’ll talk about digital audio workstations and how their introduction to the audio world shaped my career from one job to the next. The overall goal is to show how one can create and sustain a career in audio by not limiting one’s goals (don’t say “I will only work for AAA game companies!” – be open minded), by being willing to change and adapt (I’ve had to learn 8 different DAWs), and the skills one should hone to be able to adapt to changing technologies (the one you’re best at). Other concepts include: figuring out what you love, becoming exceptional at one skill, and why being a “Jill of all Trades” is a good thing.
Building a Voice Acting Career
Bob Carter (m). Additional panelists pending.
Learn all about the Good, the Bad, and the Greatness of Voice Acting in Video Games!
Art
Creating Rapid Sci-Fi Landscape Concept Art in Photoshop
Tim Matney
Come learn how to seriously manipulate and combine photos in Photoshop through “photo-bashing” techniques to build awesome sci-fi environments that only you can imagine! This course is suitable for anyone interested in learning how to quickly make realistic concept art and illustration for games, film or TV.
I’ll take the audience on a journey through the many jobs I’ve held in my 27-year career, all of which have been audio-related. We’ll make pit stops at a few to discuss how I got that particular gig, the tools I learned and used, and what Big Picture Thing I learned from that job. For example, the Big Picture Lesson I learned from working at CNN Radio is that I don’t like working in news. This discovery guided my job searching years later. I’ll talk about digital audio workstations and how their introduction to the audio world shaped my career from one job to the next. The overall goal is to show how one can create and sustain a career in audio by not limiting one’s goals (don’t say “I will only work for AAA game companies!” – be open minded), by being willing to change and adapt (I’ve had to learn 8 different DAWs), and the skills one should hone to be able to adapt to changing technologies (the one you’re best at). Other concepts include: figuring out what you love, becoming exceptional at one skill, and why being a “Jill of all Trades” is a good thing.
Business
Video Game Publishing Agreements
David Schulman
Overview of game publication agreements. Important issues from the publisher’s standpoint and from the developer’s standpoint.
Get Your Financial S**** Together
Michelle Waymire
When artists and entrepreneurs follow their passion, they often find themselves unprepared to handle the financial side of their new career. This workshop will help fill that education gap. Participants will work on creating S.M.A.R.T. financial goals, build a budget that’s consistent with the way humans actually spend money, and learn tips and tricks to automating their finances.
Kickstarting, Not Curb Stomping (m)
Andrew Greenberg
Kickstarter is best known for raising money for indie devs, but it has other uses – marketing, QA and even team building. Learn how to make the most of your crowdfunding campaign.
Successful Long Term Collaboration, or How to Not Kill Each Other for Fun and Profit
Pat Bollin, Molly Proffitt and Jeremiah Clark
Collaborating with a partner over the long term can be tough, especially when you both have full time jobs and real lives that keep getting in the way. It is possible though. We have been working together, slowly building a base for our business over the past three years. In this presentation we will talk about the trials we faced – and still face – in learning to work together effectively, and how we overcame them. We will also touch on the tools and methods that have helped along the way, and some that have not.
Launching Your Indie Game on Steam (m)
Robert Wahler, Mike Stumhofer, Stu Phelps
Launching Your Indie Game on Steam. You’ve made a game. What next? We’ll discuss creating and optimizing your listing, marketing, and other advice to launching on the world’s largest digital storefront.
Design
Live! Usability Testing
Sarah Massagee
People will be able to conduct a usability test without biased results and learn how to improve their game with feedback. This will be a live demo of a ux designer giving a usability test. After the test, we will analyze how it was run and how to avoid common errors.
Designing Board Games
Ben Burgh (m)
“Porting a video game to the table offers a unique design challenge. Some games may translate better to the medium (e.g. Civilization), while others may be constrained for other reasons (e.g This War of Mine board game). Some games might be surprisingly good, but not accurate.
This session will briefly discuss existing tabletop ports, and then I will talk about my process of bringing Breadwinner, a fast-paced VR arcade game, to the table.”
Game Design Improv I & II
Ian Schreiber
Kickstarting, Not Curb Stomping (m)
Andrew Greenberg
Kickstarter is best known for raising money for indie devs, but it has other uses – marketing, QA and even team building. Learn how to make the most of your crowdfunding campaign.
Programming
Indie Experiences in AI
Zane Everett
Covering the experiences of several indie game developers, this panel will discuss implementing AI at small, independent studios. Topics will include how to start specializing in AI, the most difficult problems tackled, managing scope, and thoughts on the future of game AI with Machine Learning. Attendees will walk away with a general understanding of what it is like to be an AI developer at a small studio.
Launching Your Indie Game on Steam (m)
Robert Wahler, Mike Stumhofer, Stu Phelps
Launching Your Indie Game on Steam. You’ve made a game. What next? We’ll discuss creating and optimizing your listing, marketing, and other advice to launching on the world’s largest digital storefront.
More session announcements to come.