Naughty Dog to detail Uncharted 3's visual effects at GDC China

Uncharted 3 is considered easily one of the best-looking games on the PlayStation 3, and at next month's GDC China in Shanghai, developer Naughty Dog will provide an in-depth look at the tools and technology used to produce the particle effects in this critically acclaimed title. In a presentation dubbed "Effects Techniques Used in Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception," Naughty Dog programmer Marshall Robin will look under the hood of this popular game, noting the various tricks and techniques the studio uses to get the most out of its full scale console titles. Robin's talk will offer "an overview of the tool pipeline used to author and process particle assets, a detailed walk through of the simulation and rendering runtime, and some shader techniques used in our effects." This talk is part of GDC China's Programming track, and will be open to All Access and Main Conference pass holders. Discounted Early Bird registration is now open on the GDC China website, and the show itself will take place November 17-19 at the Shanghai Convention Center in Shanghai, China. In addition to the above presentation, GDC China organizers have also added the following talks to the show's growing lineup: - As part of the Game Design track, Ubisoft creative director Jason VandenBerghe (Far Cry 3) will host "The 5 Domains of Play: Applying Psychology's Big 5 Motivation Domains to Games." Expanding on his well-received presentation from GDC 2012, VandenBerghe will draw from research and scientific evidence to help designers create games that are more satisfying at a psychological level. - In the Business & Marketing track, Kongregate co-founder Emily Greer will compare the Eastern and Western game markets in "Core Games, Real Numbers: Comparative Stats on Asian & Western Games." Greer will draw from Kongregate's game data to note some important trends across both these markets so developers can better understand what makes a game succeed or fail with its specific audience. These talks join the numerous other sessions already announced for GDC China. For more information on any of the sessions in the show's growing lineup, check out the "Announced Sessions" page on the show's official website. Be sure to keep an eye out for even more updates on GDC China in the weeks ahead, as show organizers have plenty more to announce for the upcoming event. For all the latest information on registering for GDC China, visit the show's website, or subscribe to regular updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS.