GDC China adds CCP, Klei, Blizzard talks; early reg ends August 9

One day before the discounted registration deadline, GDC China organizers have added more presentations for its September event, with talks on Mark of the Ninja's stealth design, EVE Online's network interface, and StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm's cinematic production. UBM Tech Game Network's GDC China, now in its sixth year, has moved up to September this year, running from the 15th to the 17th at the Shanghai International Convention Center in Shanghai, China. The event will be co-located with Cloud Connect China. In 'Designing Mark of the Ninja,' Klei's lead designer Nels Anderson will discuss how his team adapted stealth gameplay to side-scrolling 2D for the XBLA and PC hit. Attendees will get an up-close look at how Klei innovates within established genres by seeking to understand the true appeal of a genre while avoiding genre tropes. In 'How Hard Could It Be? The Story of a Cinematic,' Blizzard's lead writer Brian Kindregan will trace the story development of a challenging StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm cinematic. By walking the audience through multiple revisions of the same cinematic, Kindregan will demonstrate how his team reconciled differences between the cinematic production process and the game design process, integrated feedback, and made significant narrative choices -- and show how that impacted the final story. Lastly, in 'CREST: An Account of Deploying a RESTful Interface to an Established MMO,' CCP senior network programmer Nicolas Tittley will discuss the development process behind CREST, CCP's new REST-style cross-platform network interface for the EVE Online universe. He will touch on its ease of use, scalability, and its enabling multiple 3rd party applications and CCP's new PS3 shooter, Dust 514. These talks join the previously announced sessions including multiplatform development tips with Unity3D, predictive analytics of online players, and the emotional journey for players in Papo & Yo. Don't forget: discounted registration for GDC China 2013 ends August 9. Groups of 5 of more can also receive a special discount. For all the latest information on GDC China, visit the show's website, or subscribe to regular updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS. Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Tech.