Polish Game Developers Meeting 2012 – Coverage 2/2

This is the second and last part of my PGA / ZTG 2012 coverage. First one you’ll find on this page.

ZTG Sunday

Other notes I’ve taken:

  • flash game takes about 130-150 watt
  • Left for Dead takes 260-280 watt
  • Battlefield 3 takes 300 watt
  • Calculating PI – 170 watt one core, 220 on multi-core
  • Graphics test – 310-325; along with PI calculation – 370

Spreadsheet also contains monthly cost (in PLN currency).

 

 

Notes: documentation, prototyping, conceptualization are a part of the designer’s job. List of related fields:

  • narrative design (story)
  • scenario design (scripting, objectives)
  • level design
  • feature design (mechanics)
  • art direction (style guidelines)
  • quality assurance
  • system design (game economy, difficulty)

“exper” stands for experience. I can’t exactly relate with that because I do my stuff for myself. I mean to express myself and not necessarily make it for other people.

 

Other than that speaker had a mini curling game and he compiled it for Windows, browser and iPad.

 

Other notes:

  • RPG is a type of game in which player has significant influence in the plot and he grows
  • designer should also be a writer because cRPG is about scenario
  • your first game shouldn’t be a cRPG but e.g. platform game (for the sake of gaining experience)
  • two ways of worldbuilding: starting from detail to totality (universum) or vice versa
  • questions regarding cRPG plan: how much freedom will player have? Dynamic or static world? How time flows in the game? How many characters centering around the plot?
  • the point of standardizing documentation is to have a master plan – so that everybody sticks to one vision
  • even coders should know the plot
  • writers don’t know how much time it takes to implement a feature and may request things absorbing to make but ultimately useless
  • make hard decisions about removing some stuff or members of team; otherwise project will go astray

 

Speaker presented a couple of games considered weird (including his own Snakes of Avalon). I didn’t understood the point of the talk so that’s why I called it “incoherent”. As for technical problems: game he wanted to show worked in widescreen while projector was 4:3. I’m pretty sure that it was possible to test it before the talk.

 

This one was supposed to last 1.5 hours but it was done quicker. Still, I made some notes:

  • forcing player to do a sequence of actions under pressure – efficient solution
  • player feels the pressure if he knows that something may jump in front of him
  • pressure can be strengthen by a lack of resources (e.g. lamp oil in Amnesia)
  • Amnesia, Penumbra – no combat, escaping instead
  • Slender has no animation but he’s supposed to move – so he appears in front of player; he gives no sound and there’s penalty when coming into contact with him

 

PGA Sunday

You actually had a chance to play something.

 

Just before I left I checked out booth with guys using liquid nitrogen for cooling. One was operating computer displaying benchmark and the other one was pouring liquid onto hardware. I briefly talked with them and learned that there is a spike in performance as a result of cooling computer that way.

 

Conclusion

Most of those I attended were uninteresting for me to be specific. Recordings of all talks were promised to be available on-line but I haven’t seen any so far.

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