GDC 2014 adds new Summit talks on Kerbal Space Program, experimental narrative

Game Developers Conference 2014 organizers have revealed new Summit talks for its March conference, with sessions highlighting the value of modular design in Kerbal Space Program, a postmortem of hit mobile game 10,000,000, and Tracy Fullerton talking about experimental game narrative. These talks are part of the Independent Games, Smartphone & Tablet Games, and Game Narrative Summits that will take place Monday, March 17 and Tuesday, March 18 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA during the first two days of GDC 2014. As part of the Independent Games Summit, Squad technical artist Chad Jenkins will talk about the value of designing reusable, multipurpose assets for your game that can be easily modified during content updates or remixed by modders. Jenkins will rely on his experience developing Kerbal Space Program to provide specific examples of how modular design can make your game better in his talk Sandbox Lessons: Modular Design in Kerbal Space Program. For the Smartphone & Tablet Games Summit, 10,000,000 developer Luca Redwood is coming to GDC 2014 to talk frankly about how he was able to achieve notable success selling a mobile game for a fixed price -- with no in-app purchases. Redwood intends for everyone attending his talk, simply titled Making 10,000,000, to walk away with a better understanding of his design decisions, as well as some data on the game's sales and how it performed across iOS, Android and Steam. Finally, for the Game Narrative Summit, Tracy Fullerton will discuss the possibilities and potential pitfalls of experimenting with telling your story through gameplay mechanics in Breaking the Mold: Experiments in Evolving Game Narrative from the USC Game Innovation Lab. Fullerton was part of the team that developed Walden, A Game, and she plans to share stories from the development process as well as highlight ways in which players might discover a meaningful narrative in fulfilling mean tasks like fetching water or finding shelter, especially when those tasks are done in a world designed to support the tale you're trying to tell. For more information on these or others in the show's growing lineup, check out GDC 2014's official Schedule Builder, which continues to add new talks every week. The deadline for discounted Early Bird passes, including a lower-priced Summits, Tutorials & Bootcamps Pass, is January 31. GDC 2014 itself will take place March 17-21 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. For more information on GDC 2014, visit the show's official website, or subscribe to regular updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS.