Rip and tear GCAP 2023-11-06 | With Kiera Lord.A rage fueled descent into adding required features to the unity editor by any means necessary.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEAwww.gcap.com.au
The OS Scheduler and your threads GCAP 2023-10-30 | With James Mitchell of Sledgehammer Games.As your game starts to spread across multiple threads, potentially running on different cores which might vary in CPU frequency, or even share HW resources with other cores, it becomes increasingly important to understand how to best work with the operating system and hardware to get the most out of your game.Many of the techniques we have become comfortable with that worked great on hardware and operating systems at the time they were written, but can be causing issues and degrading performance on more modern systems.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEAwww.gcap.com.au
Strategies for Building a Cohesive & Successful Studio: Leadership, Career & Culture 2023 Highlight GCAP 2023-10-30 | With Taylah Walker of PlaySide Studios.In this session, attendees will hear from an experienced industry leader, the Vice President of Games at PlaySide Studios, who, along with upper management at her studio, has identified several key strategies that founders and management can use to promote job satisfaction, support training and upskilling, foster ownership of creative processes, build trust, let people lead, and strengthen confidence within their teams.Through real-world examples and case studies, attendees will gain insights into how to implement these strategies in their own organisations. During this session, attendees will gain valuable insights and practical techniques for enhancing team coherence, promoting job satisfaction, and fostering a positive and collaborative working environment. The presentation will emphasise the importance of training and upskilling opportunities, instilling creative ownership, establishing trust, empowering team members to lead, and fostering confidence within a team.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEAwww.gcap.com.au
Pacing Considerations for Narrative Games: Narrative 2023 Highlight GCAP 2023-10-30 | With Mads Mackenzie of Fine Feathered Fiends and Freeplay.Pacing! Everyone's worst enemy. Is this scene too long? Is this sequence too long? Is this entire game too long? Is everything too short? Does this part feel boring because of the length or because not enough happens in it? And that’s before you start worrying about interactivity! UI, engine affordances, and moves between different types of gameplay also determine whether pacing feels ‘right’ or not.With a focus on text-driven games, this talk looks at the various factors that impact game pacing and reflects on ways to improve it when changing the game structure is a last resort or an impossibility. What are some tripping points of your dialogue formatting you haven’t noticed? Have you used a technique from a different medium that doesn’t work when the player needs to click to advance? Are your branches getting in their own way?Together, let’s help players avoid dissatisfaction and RSI, and make better-paced narrative games!Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEAwww.gcap.com.au
Opening Keynote: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Journey GCAP 2023-10-30 | With Kevin Johnson of Double Fine Productions.Over the course of my career I've been fortunate enough to work at several studios, in several countries, with nearly every discipline in the pipeline, and with some incredible people. Looking back on my experiences there are several recurring themes that have shaped my production philosophy and how I approach enabling teams to do their best work. This talk will explore those themes and the lessons I've learned through success and failure so that developers can walk away with knowledge that will help bring the best out of their teams.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEAwww.gcap.com.au
Musings to Masterpiece: The Visual Journey for Stray Gods: Art 2023 Highlight GCAP 2023-10-30 | With Ben Ee of Summerfall Studios.Follow along for the visual odyssey of Stray Gods: the Roleplaying Musical, from a small chat over coffee to the greatest roleplaying musical ever. (POSSIBLE SPOILERS).Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEAwww.gcap.com.au
Level up your leadership: Empowering teams in pre-production: Production 2023 Highlight GCAP 2023-10-30 | With Sorcha Millican-Nagle of PlaySide StudiosGreat teams need to know that they are trusted to do their best. A good producer or lead knows how to help the team get work done. They know how to equip people with the right information, provide them the space to be autonomous, and creative, and - most importantly - define what teams DON’T need to do. Then, they get the F*** out of the way. This talk investigates the tools and processes you can adopt as Producers and Leaders to give your team the space to do their best. We’ll explore two main sections: Process optimisation for enhancing creativity, setting goals, and defining constraintsEquipping teams with role clarity, creating efficient workflows and adapting your leadership approach Leave this with tools you can apply directly to your project and a bunch of resources to dig into later!Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEAwww.gcap.com.au
Opening Keynote: How Connection Empowers Us All: A Narrative Journey GCAP 2023-10-30 | Welcome to Country with Tony Garvey, Wurundjeri Elder.GCAP Opening and housekeeping with Ron Curry, CEO of IGEA and Sav Wolfe of IGEA.With Diandra Lasrado of Crystal Dynamics.My journey through games has been unique in that I have touched every aspect of what one would consider game narrative and even some parts like localization, voice over, and marketing that some would not.With each different job I learned a new aspect of how Game Narrative fits together and how to build better stronger and more diverse stories because I was able to see how utilizing knowledge from multiple disciplines allows for more flexible thinking that creates space for diversity and opportunity. To ensure marginalized voices are heard, systems of communication and collaboration are crucial to set up and strengthen.My goal is to share my learnings so that others can build better and stronger teams who can create more resonant stories that can appeal to a broader audience.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEAwww.gcap.com.au
Closing Keynote: Funding In Australia GCAP 2023-10-30 | This duel keynote between Screen Australia and the Office of The Arts seeks to provide a comprehensive overview of the multiple levels of funding, offsets and the Australian Government’s integrated plan to support games development within Australia. The first half will feature Screen Australia talking about their new game grants, and the second half will feature an interview style talk with the Office for the Arts on the Digital Games Tax Offset.Screen Australia Games Funding 2023 and Beyond: Screen Australia is thrilled to unveil its brand new series of games grants at GCAP 2023. Join the Screen Australia Games team as they unpack their exciting new funding opportunities aimed to empower and elevate Australian gamemakers, and boost the strength of the local sector through the federal government’s commitment of $12-million across the next four years. The grants are designed to support, nurture, and celebrate upcoming Australian independent games and gamemakers. Come along and find out what’s on offer!Digital Games Tax Offset: The Australian Government recognises the value of digital games. Storytelling through interactive media is culturally significant, and digital games are an artform comprising creative vision and digital and technical skill. The new Digital Games Tax Offset (DGTO) will offer a 30 per cent refundable tax offset to eligible games developers that spend a minimum of $500,000 on qualifying Australian development expenditure, for new eligible games or on updates across a slate of released eligible games (live ops). The Office for the Arts will speak with Ben Au from IGEA about what the offset looks like, who qualifies, and what this means for the future of games funded in Australia.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEAwww.gcap.com.au
Crowd Control: Extendable, Flexible AI at Scale: Engineering and Technical 2023 Highlight GCAP 2023-10-30 | With Ellie Whitfort of League of Geeks.Jumplight Odyssey is a game with hundreds of characters of differing roles, species and factions, who need to be brought to life while balancing the requirements of the ship, player autonomy and individual character’s expressiveness.This session will break down our design process from early prototypes to the shipped product, and the tools we provided to our Design and QA department to keep production moving smoothly. We’ll show the system we put together, alongside example modules created by Technical Designers to get expressive behaviour without direct Engineering support.With so much going on, performance is a big consideration. We’ll discuss the way we factored it into the process from the very start without bogging down our development.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEAwww.gcap.com.au
Closing Keynote with Timur Haussila of Supercell GCAP 2023-10-30 | Timur Haussila of Supercell will be talking about the development practices of creating new games at Supercell and will be sharing his own experiences of creating games that are played by hundreds of millions.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEAwww.gcap.com.au
A Feature not a Glitch: the opportunities of gamemaking in Australia: Highlight 2023 GCAP 2023-10-30 | What is a screen agency? Why do we even have those? The answer is tied to the big picture status of the Australian gamemaking ecosystem. Join key representatives from Australia’s screen agencies for their perspective on the Australian games industry, and the opportunities that set us apart from the rest of the world. In this AMA-style session, bring your questions and receive useful context about what’s happening locally and internationally, from a uniquely Australian perspective.Featuring:Alex Sangston – Executive Manager, Screen Tasmania (he/him)Jed Dawson – Head of Games, Screen Queensland (he/him) Lise Leitner – Coordinator of Games and Interactive, VicScreen (they/them) Mark Smith – Digital Games Manager, Screenwest (he/him) Patrick Webb – Game Development Executive, South Australian Film Corporation (he/him)Amelia Laughlan – Games Investment Manager, Screen Australia (she/her) Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEAwww.gcap.com.au
Closing Keynote - Meaningful Choices: The Stories of Summerfall GCAP 2023-10-30 | What are the stories behind Summerfall Studios, creators of Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical? David Gaider, Liam Esler and Elie Young began the journey in 2017, but the true strength of any studio is in the people who comprise it. We regularly hear from leaders in the industry about issues such as hiring and mentoring juniors, how to build out successful teams, and how to retain talent. What do these things look like in practice for the individuals they impact? You’ll hear from Summerfall team members across a wide swathe of experience. For some, this is their first post-university job, others have come from entirely different industries. What is it like to join a team with many eyes on the studio? How do their goals and skills factor in? They’ll talk candidly and honestly about their experiences as they delve into their personal journeys to date as a member of the Summerfall team.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEAwww.gcap.com.au
Sounds fit for a Cult (of the Lamb): Audio 2023 Highlight GCAP 2023-10-30 | An interview with River Boy (Narayana Johnson), conducted by Aaron Edwards, about his music for Cult of the Lamb & running through his FMOD project.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEAwww.gcap.com.au
Negotiating with publishers - what you need to know: Business & Investment 2023 Highlight GCAP 2023-10-30 | You've put hundreds - maybe thousands - of hours into developing your game. Maybe you've even put it out into the world. And you're starting to get interest from some pretty impressive publishers; you know, the kind you've always wanted to work with.But how do you know if you're getting a raw deal?Briar Francis, expert in game development law and all-round nice gal, will take you through the basics of publisher agreements: What am I giving up? What should I expect in return? What, in the name of all that is good and holy, actually is an indemnity?You'll learn a lot. You'll be entertained. You'll hear all the war stories and know all the red flags. But most importantly, you'll know when to consult a lawyer and get someone on your side.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEAwww.gcap.com.au
YouTube as a game development tool: Local Lounge 2023 Highlight GCAP 2023-10-30 | Correction:"Hello, this is Luke! I rewatched this and realised I totally miss-spoke regarding the Bitmoji Party numbers. In the terror of being on stage, I said 350m people had played Bitmoji Party... which is actually more like what the Snapchat DAU was around when I started working there. I don't recall the exact number of Bitmoji Party players we had but it was in the many MANY millions range. I also missed a couple of lines in the "thick skin" segment, where I totally forgot to mention that the vast majority of my commenters are incredibly kind, and I feel very proud of the positive space that is the comments section of my videos. Thanks!"Most developers who post to YouTube, Twitter or TikTok do so to promote their game. But for the last 18 months, Luke has been experimenting with using YouTube as a tool to help with the prototyping and ideation process, building and releasing prototypes publicly as a way of measuring audience interest. In this casual talk, Luke will explain how he got to this point, the pros and cons of such an approach, as well as answer any and all questions you may have!Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEAwww.gcap.com.au
Understanding player needs for better game reviews: Highlights 2023 GCAP 2023-10-30 | With Dave Oshry of New Blood Interactive.From your first loading screen to game performance, to your accessibility settings, it’s time to sprint a mile in your players shoes. Understand their needs and watch your sales and review scores rise. And it's all within your reach as a developer to connect with your players and create better experiences for them - and for you and your team.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEAwww.gcap.com.au
A Framework for Designing Metagame Systems: Design 2023 Highlight GCAP 2023-10-30 | With Jack Sinclair of PlaySide Studios.In this talk, we will explore the art of designing the right metagame systems for your game. Discover the crucial relationship between aligning player motivations with your metagame and progression. We'll delve into the power of using a player goals framework to identify strengths and areas for improvement, as well as using a narrative wrapper that helps players understand how your design works. This will all help you find ways to articulate your decision-making process and get your team all working on the same page.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEAwww.gcap.com.au
No, thats not a strategy!: Brand & Marketing 2023 Highlight GCAP 2023-10-30 | Going from a global publishing house (Bethesda) to a triple-i self publishing studio (League of Geeks), Kelsey has picked up almost as many grey hairs as she has tips and tricks on how to put together a go to market strategy for a game. Learn the 5 key steps involved in getting a game to market in an age where self publishing is increasingly more possible. Learn why Kelsey constantly rants about a tactic vs a strategy. Leave the talk knowing deep lore about the spooky skeleton of strategy.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEAwww.gcap.com.au
Growing Your Team Without Sacrificing It: Intentional Team Design GCAP 2023-10-27 | With Liam Esler from Summerfall Studio.Growth is a difficult tightrope. Working out what your team should look like WHILE you’re growing? Virtually impossible.How do you decide when to hire? What to hire for? How to hire? What should you prioritise?Most importantly, how do you support all of your people, current and new, as you expand?In this talk, we will discuss the question: Are we designing our teams as carefully as we’re designing our games?You will leave this talk with a renewed understanding of how business strategy, game development and hiring intersect and how to balance risk, effort, and results.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEA.www.gcap.com.au
From Good to Great: Elevating your Production GCAP 2023-10-27 | With Kelsey Gamble of League of Geeks, Meredith Hall and Elizabeth Blythe of Summerfall Studios and Cass Gray from PHORIA.We often discuss the basics of production, and how to get yourself a role in the industry. But what do you do once you get there? These producers take you through how they levelled up their skillsets, and the techniques and lessons that helped them grow as both producers and professionals in the industry.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEA.www.gcap.com.au
More Than Our Masks: A Fireside Chat Panel GCAP 2023-10-27 | With Meena Shamaly, of DragonBear Studios and ABC Classic, Samara-Jade Sendek and Starling Tan of Sinister Creative.Many of us wear visible signifiers of our identities; we can't hide the culture on our skin, the genders we present, or the queerness of our bodies. As game devs, the unique experiences and perspectives we offer because of this may be specifically sought out to inform a project, help a character feel authentic, or make a world come alive in a wonderful way.However, we are more than those identifiers, and more than the neat boxes into which we might neatly fit. Our identities and unique experiences are simply one of our arrows, not the whole quiver. There is a lot more to the creativity of game devs, especially those considered "diverse", than those signifiers might indicate.In this Fireside Chat, three creatives explore their experiences in the game industry - Samra-Jade Sendek (narrative designer and writer; Game of Thrones: Tale of Crows, Lord of the Rings), Meena Shamaly (composer and session musician; Innchanted, Old World), and Starling Tan (composer and session musician; Loch Mess, Sinister Creative). These game devs dive into their complex relationships with who they are, how their identities inform their work, and those surprising things they beyond what you might see.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEA.www.gcap.com.au
I Made You Some Content - The Community to Content Pipeline GCAP 2023-10-27 | With Pritika Sachdev of Quiip.With social media moving faster than ever, it’s hard to know which pieces of content will stick. Will it be that silly meme you made for fun, or that 30 minute devlog that took ages to edit? Look, it’ll probably be the meme, but that meme can be harnessed to create a powerful and dedicated community who are proud advocates of your game.This talk will take you through the role of content and how it differs on each social media platform. Every platform will inevitably attract a varied audience, all invested in your game. By translating your game development pillars into digestible marketing pillars, utilising analytics and understanding your audience needs, you will walk away from this talk confident in creating an ongoing content strategy.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEA.www.gcap.com.au
Style That Sings GCAP 2023-10-27 | With Jennifer Reuter.“Just do what you do best!!” or “decide immediately out of school or else you’ll tank!!”, you’ve heard all the advice for style development, from naively too idealistic to creating something so dry and ‘marketable’ it makes you cry. Creating a ‘unique’ style in any medium is notoriously fuzzy territory: it requires a mixture of self-awareness, specific vocabulary, and combining things in interesting ways. This talk gives you prompts and tools to tackle the honesty and playfulness of style, whether for personal development or for a client.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEA.www.gcap.com.au
Show Dont Tell: The Intricacies of Metaphors in Visual Media GCAP 2023-10-27 | With Ben Ee of Summerfall Studios, Stephanie Everett of League of Geeks, Zahraa Al Zubaydi of GUCK, Hannah Crosby of Gameloft Brisbane and Ryan McMahon of PlaySide Studios.We know a picture tells a thousand words, but what goes into those words? From the obvious scrawling’s on walls in horror games to the colour theory of a flower, metaphors and symbolism is often simply referred to as 'visual storytelling'. But metaphors and symbolism have been used in art since the first cave paintings, and are a rich blend of history, current culture and expression. In this panel (names) will examine the metaphors and shorthand they love to use in art, where they came from and how to build a strong, but interpretable world in your games.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEA.www.gcap.com.au
Optimising Games for a Complex World GCAP 2023-10-27 | With Matt Delbosc from Ubisoft.As our games grow in complexity, and in the number of supported platforms, optimising them to run consistently at their target frame rate has become exponentially more challenging. This work cannot be left to a small group of technical people at the end of production.In this talk, we will explore project-wide approaches that can be used to engage the team in the optimisation process. From generating and leveraging large volumes of performance data, to techniques that can be applied to scale the game, we will try to offer some practical tips that can make the process easier. To support this, some examples of successes and challenges from recent Ubisoft titles will be provided.This talk will not focus on bare-to-the-metal coding techniques, and will instead try to present performance optimisation as a holistic approach that should be adopted by the entire production team.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEA.www.gcap.com.au
PROG ROCK ODYSSEY: Designing the Artful Escape GCAP 2023-10-27 | With Johnny Galvatron of Beethoven & Dinosaur.Please note: Apologies for the missing presentation footage, it was unfortunately not recorded.A dive into the origins, art style, development, and artistic vision of the BAFTA award winning title, the Artful Escape, by Creative Director, Johnny Galvatron. Let’s get weird. Let’s pour over some of the influences; music, filmic, and visual that inspired the Artful Escape. Let’s talk about how we developed a visual style that Forbes called the most beautiful indy game of the year. We’re going to go behind the curtain and show you how we created our 2.5d characters and environments, what tricks we used, and pass on insights from the extremely talented team that made it happen.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEA.www.gcap.com.au
Managing Audio Pipelines for Original and Live Service Games In Co-Development GCAP 2023-10-27 | With Barry Dowsett of EA Firemonkeys.This session will discuss the synergies and divergences that exist when managing the audio pipelines for original and live service games being developed simultaneously. Topics will include feature planning, resourcing, risk mitigation and the general path to success when bringing audio to market across titles with varying production cycles.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEA.www.gcap.com.au
Implementing Team-Based Matchmaking without a Matchmaking Server GCAP 2023-10-27 | With June Rhodes of Redpoint games.Learn how to implement team-based matchmaking for your game, without having to run or pay for a centralised matchmaking server. This talk is a highly technical deep dive into the distributed matchmaking algorithm in our Matchmaking plugin for Unreal Engine, which leverages the free lobby APIs available in EOS and Steam to provide a low cost, scalable matchmaking solution for independent developers.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEA.www.gcap.com.au
No Hero Is An Island: How Diverse Ensemble Casts Create Living Worlds GCAP 2023-10-27 | With Desiree Cifre of Studio Drydock.Video game stories can suffer when they fall back on stock characters in the service of creating a familiar experience for the player. In this session, I will talk about how the narrative team at Studio Drydock developed an authentic, diverse ensemble cast that powered our witchy farming sim past genre clichés to create a world that feels alive. Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEA.www.gcap.com.au
From triple j to AAA? The Journey of Big Sand GCAP 2023-10-27 | With Sally Coleman of Big Sand.What’s a former triple j Breakfast presenter doing building blueprints in Unreal Engine? Meet Sally Coleman, a musician, radio host, music industry professional and the creative director of a new science fiction band called Big Sand.Big Sand uses UE and motion capture to experiment with new, innovative forms of storytelling. It’s a playful R&D project, and a cheeky foray into the music industry of the future.In this session, Sally will unpack some of the key concepts that she’s currently exploring, and their implications. Can motion capture be used to perform a live music gig in real-time? How can the game and music industries collaborate better? And what happens when we simply set out to try something new?Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEA.www.gcap.com.au
What Can Film & TV Teach Us About Finance? GCAP 2023-10-27 | With Dr Jens Schroeder of IGEA, Dr Gerard Reed of AFTRS, Lucy Cooke of SpaceDraft and Marcus Gillezeau of Firelight. What can Film & TV teach us about finance? Join a talented panel of professionals from the world of games and film and where we can find common ground on financing creativity. Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEA.www.gcap.com.au
Game Production for Indie Teams GCAP 2023-10-27 | With Rueben Moorhouse of No Moss Studios.How should you prioritise your tasks/cards? How do you run your team standups productively and effectively? How do you prevent crunch?These are all questions you’ve likely stumbled on, especially if you’re managing a small team or working solo. Often, indie devs might not have a full time producer to help with managing day-to-day processes, but coordinating the many tasks you have whilst making your game is critical to successfully putting it out into the world. To help you out, we’ve prepared some of our best practices for game production.Learn about what production is, and hear from Reuben about managing a team and best practices for tracking tasks!Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEA.www.gcap.com.au
Lets Talk About LiveOps GCAP 2023-10-27 | With Michelle Sandford and George Coldham of Microsoft.It’s time to think about making games differently. Games are shifting from one-off experiences to services that evolve. Developers of successful live games focus on understanding their players, meeting their individual needs,and cultivating long-term relationships. This is what we call LiveOps. LiveOps is about bringing people together and giving them reasons to stay together by offering satisfying experiences. LiveOps help games build healthy communities that last for years - let us show you how.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEA.www.gcap.com.au
Understanding Your Players Better Through User Research (Even on an Indie Budget) GCAP 2023-10-27 | With Megan Pusey from Murdoch University.The success of games depends on their Player Experience and building the best Player Experience relies on understanding your players. Games User Research is integral to understanding players and how to build the best product for them. Research is more than just testing prototypes at the end of the development cycle, it should be embedded throughout the game development cycle.Come along to learn some tips and tricks on getting started, choosing the right methods and tools for all types of teams.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEA.www.gcap.com.au
Games by Songs GCAP 2023-10-27 | With Jacob Leaney of Things for Humans.‘Games by Songs’ was a 6 month period of intensive experimentation (supported by Creative Victoria) undertaken by Jake about integrating music with lyrics into video games through collaborative songwriting and game design.Jacob will talk through 3 prototypes and songs he created for 'Games by Songs' - a Creative Victoria funded project exploring the relationship between music with lyrics and video games. He will break down his design approach/creative process, successes and challenges, what he learnt from the project and collaborations, and what could be explored next!This talk is for game designers, songwriters/musicians, and anyone with a passion for music games. The talk will leave you with a place to start with innovating in the games-music space, some tips on integrating music with lyrics into games, and questioning what a music game can be.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEA.www.gcap.com.au
We Deserve Better Subtitles! GCAP 2023-10-27 | With Paris Buttfield-Addison of Secret Lab.More than 80% of gamers use subtitles. But how do we make sure subtitles are great?This session will explore what greats subtitles mean in 2022 and beyond.From our regular professional use of and research into text-presentation in games, we’ll present how and why people use subtitles when gaming, how developers can improve both the user experience and accessibility of subtitles, and why you should bother.Specifically, together, we’ll look at:- what subtitles are, how they work, and how people use them- how to tune your subtitles for the ways in which people use them- designing good subtitles, from font, to colour, to contrast- subtitles for accessibility, and subtitles for preference and convenience- great subtitles vs. mediocre subtitles (“Control” is the gold standard, but we can do even better)- subtitles in games vs. subtitles in linear media, what we can learn from other other- closed captions or subtitles? What’s the difference?- subtitling sound effects, not just dialogueBy the end of the session, attendees will better understand the world of subtitles, and be equipped with concrete recommendations they can take away to implement in their own games and projects, whether they’re just starting a project, or need to retrofit the subtitles in their existing games.This session will be more design- and accessibility-focused than technical, but we’ll be discussing some technical possibilities when it comes to developing good subtitles, even though it’s not the focus.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEA.www.gcap.com.au
Throwing Shade: How to Yassify Your Game GCAP 2023-10-27 | With Teja Godson of Summerfall Studios.A dive into Unreal Engine 4's shaders and vfx, how you can wrangle them to work in ways you never expected, and how I used them to create magical comic book effects for Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEA.www.gcap.com.au
Im a Game Developer I Dont Need To know About Music Licensing... Or Do I? GCAP 2023-10-27 | “I know I need music for my game, but I know nothing about music licensing. I just want music in my game that I can use without any issues.”I get it, you’re a game developer, not a music licensing expert. However, if you are developing a game and thinking about hiring a composer to create custom music you do need to be aware of a few basic music licensing options that need to be discussed when on boarding a music composer. If not, you could find yourself with a lot of problems later down the line when there is confusion over who owns what, who gets what, and who can do what with the music.This talk is an introduction to music licensing from the perspective of a game developer and will cover basic music licensing options, typical composer rates, factors a composer considers when determining the cost of music, points of negotiation (especially if you are budget restricted indie studio), and a few other important questions that you need to considered that will help you feel more comfortable and confident when talking with music composers. Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEA.www.gcap.com.au
Building and Leading Inclusive Teams in a Hybrid and Evolving World GCAP 2023-10-27 | With Chris Clay from Immutable.There is a global battle for the best talent, and an evolution of what it means for people to be the best talent. This session will explore lessons learned in the transition from in office to remote first during Covid, and what it takes to retain global and local talent when there are more options and opportunities available than ever before.We’ll also dive into the many challenges of leading a team in a Hybrid world where some are in office, some are overseas, and everyone has many calls for their time and attention.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEA.www.gcap.com.au
Investment, Mergers & Acquisitions- What Does It All Mean For Our Studio? GCAP 2023-10-27 | With Cam Rogers from Cam Rogers Legal and Sam Cottell of Cottell & Co.This presentation is addressed at those studios looking to take on board investment from third parties or be acquired by third parties. The presentation will be focused on game development companies and the specific hurdles they face in completing a transaction. To do this the presenters will provide an overview of each stage of a ‘typical’ transaction.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEA.www.gcap.com.au
Why the Why Matters GCAP 2023-10-27 | With Harry Rex and Chris Clay of Immutable.Decision making is hard, even though it’s something we experience every day. Often criticised, and rarely understood, a strong idea, when told poorly will struggle to gain traction. This talk dives into building strong justification for your ideas, using data to back up your assumptions, and building an overall narrative around your decisions. Mastering the Why will allow you to build strong visions for your games, and even greater buy in from your teams.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEA.www.gcap.com.au
Talk The Talk: How to Say the Right Things About Your Game GCAP 2023-10-27 | With Michal Napora of 32-33.One of the best ways to convince people to buy your game is through marketing. But before you start talking about your game, you should first figure out what you should be talking about. Players play games for many reasons. Some play to master them, some play so that they can be someone else, while others might play to release their creative juices. Not all players play for the same reasons and not all gamers have the same motivations to play.Not only should you create a title that satisfies those reasons and motivations, but you should also be able to communicate your game's virtues too. How do you that? How do you figure out what to say? And how do you apply that in your marketing? Well, that’s what my talk is about. I will share with you one of my favourite exercises to help figure out what you should be saying (finding your Key Pillars) as well as giving you an outline of player motivations and how to use them in your communications.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEA.www.gcap.com.au
Slacking Off: Running a Remote International, Asynchronous Studio GCAP 2023-10-27 | With Amanda Schofield of Studio Drydock.Studio Drydock is a 3 year old studio that has developed and shipped their first game: Wylde Flowers for Nintendo Switch, Steam and Apple Arcade. The game was developed by a fully remote, international, asynchronous team of 25, including people working from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, USA and Costa Rica.As the beginning of this work predates the rise of COVID, we needed to develop our own procedures, practices and culture to operate effectively.This talk will cover some of the advantages and challenges to this structure and outline the solutions that have helped it to be successful.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEA.www.gcap.com.au
Optimising your game AFTER it ships GCAP 2023-10-27 | With Tony Albrecht of Riot Games.They say that Premature Optimisation is the root of all evil (It's not, but THEY do say it). Delayed optimisation is root of all your players leaving because your game is too slow. This talk will look at how to maintain a released game and ensure that it maintains an appropriate level of performance, that it meets performance objectives that ensure that players aren't inconvenienced, and that when things do slow down, you know when, why and hopefully, how to fix it. This talk will look at performance of servers and clients and how to deal with the ridiculous amounts of data that you can collect to identify the key points you need to address to keep your players happy.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEA.www.gcap.com.au
Traps in Investment & Publishing Agreements GCAP 2023-10-27 | With Luke Henry and Amy Ellis of LDB Accountants & Advisors, and Cam Rogers of Cam Rogers Legal.With the recent introduction of the DGTO investors are clamoring to funds Australian Dev teams. In this talk we will explore some of the common funding arrangements we have seen and how to address complex tax matters that commonly arise.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEA.www.gcap.com.au
Getting More Than You Bargained For GCAP 2023-10-27 | With Fabian Malabello and Lex Suurland of GYLD.Pitching for a publishing deal is easy. Getting a great deal, on the other hand, can be tricky. GYLD will take you through the process of negotiating a publishing deal and share how to get more out of a deal.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEA.www.gcap.com.au
Imagining the Future GCAP 2023-10-27 | Paul Callaghan of VicScreen, Lisy Kane of Kepler Interactive, Liam Esler of Summerfall Studios and Jini Maxwell of ACMI.VicScreen has supported Victoria’s vibrant digital games scene for almost 30 years, investing in projects, people and businesses along the way in collaboration with the individual and collective imagination of local game developers. In this session, our panel of industry experts will look towards what the future might hold for games and imagine what the next 30 years might look like for technology, audiences, investment, and players.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEA.www.gcap.com.au
Accessibility as a First Principle GCAP 2023-10-27 | We all might disagree on how much challenge is the perfect amount, but even fans of masochistically difficult games will agree: losing because you made the wrong decision has the potential to be fun, but losing because you could not win a tactile struggle with the controller is the stuff of rage quitting. Players with impaired vision, limited motor control, dyslexia, or any number of other challenges might find simple parts of your game to be frustratingly complex. The odds of such players enjoying your game are vanishingly small… unless you develop your game around their needs in the first place!Thinking about players with hands, eyes, minds, schedules, and distractions different than your own is neither free, nor easy, but it can open up your games to a wider audience of potential enthusiasts.This talk will cover ideas on how to use accessibility as a baseline of success and chief design constraint, as well as best practices for making sure usability is an ongoing component of development and not a last-minute addition. We’ll look at some games that stand out as being playable by a wide range of players due to ease-of-use, inclusive controls, or other nods to accessibility, as well as lessons and reflections on the speaker’s efforts to create a game with accessibility as a core goal.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEA.www.gcap.com.au
Designer VS Producer GCAP 2023-10-27 | With Zala Habib of Dinosaur Polo Club and Calliope Ryder of Wētā Workshop.One in the clouds and one on the ground. Zala (designer) and Calliope (producer) share a light-hearted guide for designers and producers seeking to effectively navigate and communicate their distinctly different perspectives to arrive at their shared goal: a complete, fun, shipped game.Join us as we talk scope friction, content cuts, purposeful design, player needs, and accessible communication - and provide you with strategies, tools, and processes to strengthen your workplace collaboration.Video courtesy of GCAP and IGEA.www.gcap.com.au
