The GDC Experience (Day 2)

Alright, this is probably going to be a fairly short post. It's 2:00 AM Chicago time right now, and it's been a long day. I'll try to give a pretty brief synopsis of what happened today:

The morning began with the discovery that our shower was not producing hot water. So I told the people downstairs, and went over to Walgreens as they were sending an engineer up to fix it. I came back, it was fixed. Sweet.

So, I met up with Ben, Ryan, Tom, Dave and Tracy at their hotel, and we headed over to the Moscone Center West Hall. There, we got our GDC badge holders, our bags filled with a couple cool things and a bunch of useless crap, and then we headed upstairs for breakfast.

At about 9:00 AM, we went to the room where our workshop, the Game Design Workshop, was being held. Andy, Ben, Ryan and I found a table and were soon joined by Eric (I can't remember his last name at the moment) who works for EA Tiburon, and hash worked on NFL Street 2, NCAA Football 08 (old-gen) and several other popular games. He was a really cool guy and I wound up working him for a large part of the day. We were also joined by Eric's friend and co-worker Sam.

After that, we split into groups, where Andy and I were with Eric and we had to play a game called SiSSYFIGHT 3000 (I'll post a scan of the game later) and then had to brainstorm a new theme for the game, and adjust the mechanics, dynamics and aesthetics (MDA) of the game to apply to that theme. One of our group members, Anne, brainstormed the Donner Party, which we turned into a game about survival, betrayal and of course, cannibalism. By the end of it all, it was a really cool idea, and I think I might write up formal rules for it sometime after GDC.

The next step of the workshop was to attend the first of our "elective" activities. Ben, Ryan and I were all in "Coopetition," where we again had to modify SiSSYFIGHT 3000, but this time to encourage cooperation as well as competition. This activity was way too short, and I felt like we accomplished almost nothing. Then, we went to the first part of our Elective B, which was entitled "Us Vs. It," a game in which we essentially have to create an "A.I." but in a board game. It seems like it might wind up being useful, but we'll figure that out in part 2 tomorrow.

The first day of workshops/tutorials ended around 6:00 PM, and afterwards the four of us met up with Tom, Tracy and Dave for dinner at a Chinese restaurant Andy and Ben recommended. Despite a long line to get into the restaurant, it was an excellent recommendation. We asked for menus, but they decided to just order for us. Excellent choice for them as well. We must have received about 9 different dishes, all of which were delicious. We also got beer, and for the third time since turning 21 only a week ago, I was not carded. Part way through dinner, a man came inside to try and sell roses, and he wound up giving a lot of us nicknames. They are, as follows:

Me - "Shoulders"
Andy - "Knees"
Ben - "Johnny Haircut"
Tom - "The Professor"
Dave - "The Financier"

Overall, it was a very fun dinner, and it's a blast to see faculty out of their "natural habitat" of the college campus.

So, it's now time for bed, and I apologize for not getting too descriptive. I have a feeling I won't be posting until Wednesday, as there are workshops till 6:00 PM tomorrow, and then the IGDA Members Party follows soon-after, which will take us to the end of the night. The rest of the week is much of the same, supposedly. We shall see...