Become a better writer, programmer with GDC 2013's specialized tutorials

Whether you're an experienced industry veteran or an upstart hobbyist developer, it's always a good idea to take some time to brush up on your game-making fundamentals. No one can make a truly great game without first understanding the basics of development, which is why next year's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco will feature a number of robust tutorials to help attendees sharpen their essential skills. This week, GDC 2013's organizers have debuted a pair of tutorials to help developers create better narrative content, and understand the mathematic principles behind modern game programming. In the first tutorial, LucasArts lead narrative designer Evan Skolnick will return to GDC to host "Game Writing Fundamentals in a Day." During this session, he'll provide a comprehensive primer for game writers, covering the basics of good story structure, character development, and dialogue writing. Of course, developers in other disciplines will benefit from this tutorial as well, as they will learn how to bridge the gap between game writers and the rest of the development team. This week's second tutorial is another GDC favorite aimed at helping developers understand the foundation of modern game programming. The session, titled "Math for Games Programmers," will bring together a host of programming experts to cover everything from basic mathematic principles to the complex topics every programmer should master. Confirmed speakers for this session include Jim Van Verth (Insomniac Games), Manny Ko (Imaginations Technologies), Gino van den Bergen (Dtecta), Stan Melax (Intel), Squirrel Eiserloh (The Guildhall at SMU), Robin Green (Microsoft), and Graham Rhodes (Applied Research Assoc., Inc.). Both of the above sessions will take place as part of GDC 2013's Main Conference, which is open to All Access and Main Conference pass holders (a special Audio-specific pass is also available). Discounted Early Bird registration is now open on the show's official website, and GDC 2013 itself will take place March 25-29 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Be sure to keep an eye out for even more updates on GDC 2013 in the coming weeks, as the show's organizers have plenty more talks to announce for the upcoming event. For all the latest information on the Game Developers Conference, visit the show's website, or subscribe to regular updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS.