GDC 2013 adds design talks on The Walking Dead, Short's Versu, The Witcher franchise

GDC 2013 organizers have added more design talks to its March conference, including Telltale on using empathy, character, and choice to involve the player; Linden Labs on its new storytelling app, Versu; and CD Projekt RED on techniques to go from great ideas to game features. The Design Track is just one of seven Main Conference tracks to be held Wednesday-Friday, March 27-29 during the Game Developers Conference at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA. Telltale Games' Jake Rodkin and Sean Vanaman will discuss how to go against the apocalyptic zombie video game grain in 'Saving Doug: Empathy, Character, and Choice in The Walking Dead.' The two will share how they elicited in players emotions and experiences not often found in the mass market while creating a commercially and critically successful episodic game. Elsewhere, creative director of Linden Labs (Second Life) Emily Short will dissect the studio's recently released storytelling app in 'Turning Comedy of Manners into Gameplay: Versu Postmortem.' Short, who has created over 2 dozen text games herself, will discuss the iOS App, focusing on "creating a game focused on social interaction as its primary mechanic, the UI issues in building interactive text for experienced readers," and more. Finally, lead gameplay designer of CD Projekt RED (The Witcher franchise) Maciej Szczesnik will offer several creativity boosting methods to get 'From Great Ideas to Game Features.' Also included will be "feature assessment tools, backlog optimization and prioritization tools, and a structured approach to transforming ideas into optimal production plans that maximize the effect." GDC still offers over $100 discounts to select pass purchases made by March 20th, at 11:59pm EST, with prices increasing for onsite registration. GDC 2013 itself will take place March 25-29 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. For more information on GDC 2013, visit the show's official website, or subscribe to regular updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS. Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Tech.