Get fresh design inspiration from classic TRS-80 games at GDC 2016

As the 2016 Game Developers Conference approaches, organizers are today announcing a fresh pair of expert sessions aimed at advancing both our understanding and our appreciation for the art of game development.

Both of these talks dig into programming and design, though one looks to the past for inspiration and education while the other touches on some of the cutting-edge programming work being done by the developers of Rainbow Six Siege.

Released in 1979, the TRS-80 is often looked back on as a horribly constrained machine that nevertheless saw some great game releases in its day. At GDC 2012 veteran game maker Jim McGinley dug into quite a few of them for his "Inspiration from the Trash" talk, and it proved so popular that he's coming back to GDC 2016 to unearth another crop of TRS-80 games worth studying. 

Check out his "Emptying the Trash: A Last Look at TRS-80 Game Designs" talk for inspiration and leave with ideas for new game mechanics, refinements to existing game mechanics, and a practical understanding of how to apply the unique TRS-80 aesthetic today.

Also, don't miss Ubisoft Montreal's Jalal Eddine El Mansouri digging into the nuts and bolts of Rainbow Six rendering in his session on "Rendering Rainbow Six Siege" at GDC 2016.  The talk will describe the most interesting work done by the Rainbow Six graphics team to ship a competitive game on Xbox One, PS4 and up to 5-year-old PCs.

It will also focus on architectural optimizations that leverages compute that are only possible with current-gen hardware, and break down the team's new checkerboard rendering technique that allows for up to 50 percent faster rendering times without great quality loss.

What's more, these are just two of the many exciting sessions that will be announced for GDC 2016 in the coming months.  Stay tuned for more, and don't miss the opportunity to save money by registering for the conference early -- the deadline to register for passes at a discounted rate is Wednesday, February 3rd, 2016.

GDC 2016 itself will take place March 14-18th at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. For more information on GDC 2016, visit the show's official website, or subscribe to regular updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS.

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