Learn how to build a game that can playtest itself at GDC 2015

It's a bit pie-in-the-sky, but what if every new build of your game could automatically play itself, from the first level through the final boss, at the push of a button? What if your players could record their best runs and share them via leaderboards using only a handful of kilobytes? Vblanc Entertainment's Brian Provinciano believes it's possible if you build your next title on a deterministic game engine that can effectively play itself, and at GDC 2015 he'll show you how to pull it off. In his talk, "Automated Testing and Instant Replays in Retro City Rampage," Provinciano will outline how to build a deterministic game engine with input recording and playback features, using examples from his own work on Retro City Rampage. From there, he'll build upon the foundation and show you how to take advantage of a deterministic game engine by automating portions of your QA process and ensuring that all bugs are 100 percent reproducible thanks to instant replays. It's a talk worth attending for anyone with a mind to optimize their studio's production toolset, though you probably need to count yourself as either a programmer or a producer to get the most out of Provinciano's session. Going forward, conference organizers look forward to announcing more GDC 2015 sessions covering a diverse array of topical game industry issues. All of the announced talks are now available in the online GDC 2015 Session Scheduler, where you can begin to build your conference week and later export it to the up-to-the-minute GDC Mobile App, coming soon. In the meantime, don't miss your chance to save money by registering early -- the deadline to register for passes at a discounted rate is January 21, 2015. GDC 2015 itself will take place March 2-6 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. For more information on GDC 2015, 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.