The 2020 Game Developers Conference is set to be held in San Francisco on March 16-20, and included scheduled sessions from Turn 10 developers. Due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19 cases, Microsoft has decided to pull its teams from attending GDC and will instead put up its planned talks online:
GDC and the wellbeing of our teams & community
https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/games/blog/gdc-and-the-wellbeing-of-our-teams-community
Planned GDC Sessions from T10 devs:
Art Direction Summit: Fountain of Youth: The Benefits of Running an Intern Program
Tim Dean (Art Director, Turn 10, Xbox, Microsoft)
Location: Room 2001, West Hall
Date: Tuesday, March 17
Time: 2:10pm - 2:40pm
Pass Type: All Access Pass, Core+Summits Pass, Summits Pass - Get your pass now!
Topic: Visual Arts
Format: Session
This lecture will examine Turn 10 and 343’s intern program from its ideation through to its inception; how it was kicked it off, which problems to solve, and overcoming process and support roadblocks along the way. Over the past 3 years the program has built meaningful relationships with several schools, kick-started a new intern program, brought in 2 cohorts of students, and grown from 3 interns to 15. The speaker will look at the goals and KPI’s set for the program and how it has tracked against them. This is a brutally honestly session covering successes and failures. The goal is to share the excitement that we have developed for working with early-in-career talent and inspire others try.
Takeaway
Teams will understand the benefits of an intern program through increased hiring quality, more diversity, and a level of enthusiasm and excitement that buoys the entire team. Taking away practical tips on the structure and format of running a college engagement program.
Intended Audience
All Art Directors and Art Managers.
Art Direct for 100 MPH: Balancing Visuals with Performance for ‘Forza Motorsport’
Matt Collins (CG Supervisor, Microsoft-Turn 10)
Location: Room 2002, West Hall
Date: Wednesday, March 18
Time: 3:30pm - 4:30pm
Pass Type: All Access Pass, Core+Summits Pass, Core Pass - Get your pass now!
Topic: Visual Arts
Format: Session
As a franchise we’ve always striven for industry leading visuals, but as a 6O FPS title this means we have to make very targeted investments in our priorities, specifically focused on the experience of driving at 100 MPH. This often means that specific individual assets might not hold up when stationary, but that the overall experience while driving is at the highest level. This talk will cover the extensive pre-production process we go through to establish what are the highest priority investments for us to make on a title and the painstaking process of isolating content budgets for each area.
Takeaway
As a franchise we’ve always striven for industry leading visuals, but as a 6O FPS title at 100 MPH, this means we have to make very targeted investments in our priorities. This talk will cover the extensive pre-production process we go through to establish what are the highest priority investments, and the painstaking process of isolating content budgets for each area.
Intended Audience
While the talk is presented from an art standpoint it should be useful to anyone who is interested in the strategies for how we prioritize our key investments to achieve industry leading visuals while also maintaining a strict performance budget.
‘Forza’ Monthly: Live Streaming a Franchise
Shay Goldenberg (Producer, Turn 10 Studios / Microsoft)
Location: Room 2002, West Hall
Date: Friday, March 20
Time: 11:30am - 12:00pm
Pass Type: All Access Pass, Core+Summits Pass, Core Pass - Get your pass now!
Topic: Business & Marketing
Format: Session
In order to expand upon communications with the Forza racing franchise community, the team developed a monthly-hosted live stream that features topics such as the latest Forza news, monthly game updates, and talks with development team members about their latest projects.
Turn 10 Studios Media Producer Shay Goldenberg discusses the challenges & learnings of the production process, evolution of the show and how it has transformed the way the Forza franchise communicates.
Takeaway
Attendees will walk away with a better understanding of what it takes to develop a rhythm-of-business live stream for a AAA title/franchise, the considerations & challenges involved, and a proven set of guidelines they can apply to their own game/franchise ambitions.
Intended Audience
This presentation is geared toward anyone who is interested in producing or developing content for a live stream that engages & informs their community about their game(s), including Producers, Community Managers, PR and Marketing, and anyone else who communicates with players. Experience with streaming is helpful but not required.