GDC 2012 adds Epic, DeNA, Uncharted talks to programming track

Author: by Staff

The 2012 Game Developers Conference is about a month away, and the event's lineup is still rapidly growing. Today, show organizers have revealed a trio of new programming-focused talks, featuring Epic Games on data analysis, DeNA on server optimization, and Naughty Dog on the effects in Uncharted 3. These talks fall within the show's Programming track, one of seven main tracks at the show's jam-packed Main Conference. Here, industry leaders will examine the newest challenges presented by next and current gen development, detailing strategies for working on consoles, mobile, the web, and beyond. Like the rest of the Main Conference, the Programming track sessions will take place Wednesday, March 7 through Friday, March 9 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Those interested in gaining access to all the notable sessions within the Main Conference can do so by registering for an All Access or Main Conference pass at the official GDC website. Here are the newest talks to be featured in GDC 2012's Programming track: - In "Gameplay Data Analysis: Asking the Right Questions," Epic Game's senior web developer Ian Thomas will provide an in-depth look at how the studio collects and analyzes data to inform and improve its development pipeline. Along the way, he will showcase examples from Gears of War 3 and Infinity Blade 2, demonstrating how Epic uses game data to manage scalability, make post-launch decisions, and more. - Elsewhere, Yoshinori Matsunobu, principle infrastructure architect at Japanese mobile gaming giant DeNA, will host "Scaling and Stabilizing Large Server Side Infrastructure." Here, Matsunobu will pick apart the idiosyncrasies of managing and optimizing online game servers, offering insight on the latest technologies that can help developers improve server performance, streamline maintenance, reduce costs, and leverage cloud-based computing. - Finally, Naughty Dog programmer Marshall Robin will detail the technologies and tools the team used to create the numerous particle effects in Uncharted 3. The talk, dubbed, "Effects Techniques Used in Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception," will showcase the studio's data-driven system and node based shader editor, offering a detailed overview of the tool pipeline behind one of 2011's biggest console releases. In addition, Robin will provide some technical insight to lift the veil on how Naughty Dog gets the most out of its visually stunning console titles. In addition, the Programming track will also include talks featuring BioWare's Dave Schaefer on preventing broken builds, Insomniac's Ronald Pieket on preparing for pipeline failure, Turn 10's Daniel Caruso on Forza 4's pipeline architecture, Volition's Scott Kircher on lighting in Saints Row: The Third, and Human Head Studios' Kyle Hayward on the lighting tech behind Prey 2. Over the past few weeks, GDC organizers have debuted numerous other sessions, spanning sponsored Developer Days from Google, Facebook, and Unity, Summit talks from Halfbrick, PopCap, and Pocket Gems, and much more. For more information on these or any other sessions at GDC 2012, please check out the event's official Schedule Builder, which shows the current (and constantly-growing) lineup for the show so far. Also be sure to keep an eye on the official GDC news blog, which will showcase exciting new announcements for the show, in addition to this continuing series of posts pointing a spotlight at the show's most exciting, informative, and usual content. To keep up-to-date on all the latest news about GDC 2012, please subscribe to updates from the GDC news page via Twitter, Facebook, or RSS. GDC 2012 will take place March 5 through March 9 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, and is owned and operated by Gamasutra parent company UBM TechWeb.