GDC Europe 2014 adds fresh talks from Oculus and Telltale Games

European developers, take note: after last week's announcement that senior talent from both Epic Games and Wooga will be delivering talks at GDC Europe 2014, we're excited to reveal two more notable sessions for the major European game conference, which is being held in Germany this August. The event covers topics spanning AAA through mobile gaming and indie, both technical and business-focused. The pair of talks we're announcing today are focused on the evolving landscape of both narrative and VR game development, and they should include learnings for the entire community. Organized by UBM Tech Game Network, GDC Europe, now in its sixth year in Germany, will run Monday through Wednesday, August 11-13 at the Congress-Centrum Ost in Cologne, Germany, co-located with Europe's biggest video game trade and public show gamescom. Oculus VR software architect Tom Forsyth is speaking at the conference about the future of VR game development, "Developing Virtual Reality Experiences with the Oculus Rift," that should help shed some light on some of the most common challenges game creators face while working with this rapidly-evolving technology. Forsyth plans to focus on a handful of the most important questions designers should focus on when exploring VR for the first time, using lessons learned by both Oculus' partners and its own internal development teams to help shed light on some subtle design issues that are both highly complex and absolutely crucial to get right if you hope to create a satisfying VR experience. Programmers and designers should expect to gain an understanding of the differences between traditional monitor-based experiences and those in VR, along with the physiological mechanisms behind our perception, and how they can go wrong. Forsyth will also share examples of good animation techniques, first-person avatars and how players become aware of scale. Telltale Games' Chris Schroyer is also speaking at GDC Europe this year, and his talk focuses on the nuts and bolts of developing quality games based on established intellectual properties adapted from books, movies or television shows. During his presentation, "Unleashing The Wolf: Adapting Fables, Creating The Wolf Among Us," Schroyer will reveal how Telltale adapted the comic book series Fables into an episodic narrative game, touching on practical topics like how you can best approach the challenge of making a game that's appealing to both neophytes and diehard fans of an existing IP. He also hopes to offer useful techniques that any developer can use to identify key values of a well-established universe and add to a property's story canon with the creation of new character-based content, without alienating its extant audience. Of course, these are just some of the many exciting sessions that will be announced for GDC Europe 2014 in the coming weeks - with a list of announced talks now available, and early birds can register for GDC Europe 2014 by July 16 to save 200 euros on an All Access Pass. In addition, this year marks the GDC Europe debut of the Student Pass, a more affordable alternative to the All Access Pass created specifically for qualified students interested in learning and networking at GDC Europe 2014 - as well as the return of the Indie Games Summit pass. All GDC Europe passes also allow visitors to attend Gamescom from Wednesday to Friday. For more information, please visit the GDC Europe website. Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Tech