GDC 2016: Spend a day studying fundamentals of video game storytelling

Crafting entertaining, compelling narrative in video games is tricky business, and anyone interested in honing their storytelling skills should make time to check out the "Storytelling Fundamentals In A Day" tutorial at GDC 2016 in March.

Storytelling Fundamentals In A Day is one of many Bootcamps and Tutorials that take place during the first two days of GDC (Monday and Tuesday, March 14th and 15th this year) and offer attendees the chance to dive deep and explore focused topics like level design, game production, art direction and animation.

This dynamic, engaging presentation on the fundamentals of story development is designed for everyone interested in improving the narrative quality of their games. Storytelling Fundamentals In A Day will be hosted by Marvel and Lucasfilm writing veteran Evan Skolnick at GDC this year, and the day-long comprehensive tutorial will cover narrative structure, vibrant character development, storytelling best practices, and more.

Nearly every member of a development team ultimately contributes to the implementation of the game's narrative, and so becomes -- to one degree or another -- a storyteller. But without a shared language of story spoken by all team members, an unfocused narrative result is almost inevitable. This tutorial is designed to provide that common frame of reference, so that everyone on the team is pulling the game story in the same direction.

If you're still on the fence, know that prior attendees of this popular, long-running tutorial -- a broad mix of writers, designers, artists, animators, engineers and producers -- have called it "amazing" and "essential knowledge to further the medium."

Plus, more sessions will be announced for GDC 2016 in the coming months. Stay tuned, 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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