GDC 2019 is just a few weeks away, and we couldn’t be more excited. Here at INAP, we’re passionate about the gaming industry, and we’re proud that our data center, cloud and network solutions power industry leaders like game developer and publisher Hi-Rez Studios; cloud gaming service Shadow; Mineplex, one of the world’s most popular Minecraft servers; and Super Evil Megacorp, makers of cross-platform MOBA Vainglory.
If you’ll be attending, stop by our booth, P1855, to say hi and see how Performance IP, INAP’s one-of-a-kind route optimization technology, and our full suite of high-performance infrastructure and network solutions power some of your favorite gaming experiences.
In the meantime, here are just a handful of the sessions we’re most looking forward to.
The eSports Game Experience
The rise of eSports has proven that gaming might have what it takes to become a truly blockbuster spectator sport (even more than it already is). These sessions will tackle the tricky business of making games more enjoyable and inclusive for everyone, no matter who’s playing (or watching).
Esports Day: Diversity and Inclusion in Esports: Where It Is, Where It’s Going, and How It’s Being Done
Date: Monday, March 18
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
The first half-hour of this two-part session will provide attendees a clear sense of what techniques are working right now to increase inclusion in eSports and offer a plan of action to eSports community builders and players to further the effort.
The second half will cover the work of UC Irvine’s Esports Arena staff. They are collaborating with campus academics to examine eSports scholarship players’ code of conduct and contract language in an effort to develop policies that promote inclusion and protect against harassment, especially identity-based harassment.
Tackling Audience Experiences in Games
Date: Monday, March 18
Time: 3:50 p.m. – 4:20 p.m.
The audience of your game isn’t just the people playing your game—it’s also the viewers watching them play. How can you design games with a focus on optimizing the experience of both the players and the audience? This session will demonstrate how to design user interfaces and game mechanics that make for the best live or streamed gaming experience.
Esports Day: WiFi Warriors: How Developers and Organizers Can Improve Online Tournaments
Date: Monday, March 18
Time: 4:40 p.m. – 5:10 p.m.
From first-person shooters like CounterStrike and Call of Duty to fighting games like Street Fighter and Super Smash Bros., tournaments have always been an integral part of the gaming experience. This session will dissect various ways developers and communities have created methods for implementing online tournaments and how to use them to create an effective online tournament for your next competitive game. It’ll dive into various aspects of the experience, including streaming, spectators and third-party tools, and how to create the best tournament experience for games in 1v1, 5v5 and battle royale genres.
The Challenges of Developing a Game
Latency can be a game-killer. How do developers account for delay from networks and inside their games, and how can you make sure that the gaming experience stays smooth and responsive? And even once you’ve built a solid game, how do you get it made?
So You’re Ready to Pitch to a Publisher? You’re Not
Date: Monday, March 18
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
At some point in development, your team will have to talk about your game with someone on the outside. But how do you know if what you’re saying and showing make sense? Are you soliciting for publishers, for funding, for console co-marketing, for promotional opportunities, or are you going to a convention? Learn the difference between prototypes, gameplay mechanic tests and vertical slices—and why publishers want them.
Controller to Display Latency in Call of Duty
Date: Wednesday, March 20
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Low input latency is key to a satisfying experience in competitive games, but reasoning about latency can be non-intuitive in modern engines with multiple parallel timelines running at once. This talk will tackle latency by analyzing the path that data flows through a game engine from the input sample all the way to the video scan-out hardware.
Technical Challenges of Developing Multiplayer Shooters
Date: Wednesday, March 20
Time: 3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
This session will give insight into using first- and third-person perspectives for multiplayer games, the pros and cons of using weapon view models, network optimization for multiple NPCs, as well as animation data optimization taken from the speaker’s real-life projects.
