Naughty Dog at GDC 2018

If you’re headed to Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, which kicks off on Monday, March 19, don’t miss out on these talks featuring Naughty Dog devs! Alongside these talks about development techniques and the making of Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, our recruiting team will also be on-hand. Be sure to keep an eye on the @NaughtyDogJobs Twitter account for details on how you can meet them and learn more about the studio and our open roles.

ANIMATION BOOTCAMP: TRICKS OF THE TRADE

Date: Monday, March 19 | 4:40pm - 5:10pm

Speakers: Gwen Frey (The Molasses Flood), Joe Han (Riot Games), Almudena Soria (Naughty Dog, Inc.), Jalil Sadool (Steamroller Studios), Kyle Chittenden (Certain Affinity), James Benson (Campo Santo)

Location: Room 2010, West Hall

Description:

Six animators rapidly deliver their best tips and tricks. They have 5 minutes each to showcase their personal ideas, workflows, and animation techniques.

LEVEL DESIGN WORKSHOP: INVISIBLE INTUITION: BLOCKMESH AND LIGHTING TIPS TO GUIDE PLAYERS AND SET THE MOOD

Date: Tuesday, March 20 | 11:20am - 12:20pm

Speakers: David Shaver (Naughty Dog, Inc.), Robert Yang (NYU Game Center)

Location: Room 20, North Hall

Description:

Waypoints, HUD markers, buddy callouts, cutscenes, forced camera moves and more: these navigation aids are ubiquitous in games to guide players to their goals. But can it be done without them? In this talk, two experts on blockmeshing and lighting present practical techniques that establish mood and naturally guide players through 3D environments.

In the first part of the session, David Shaver shares techniques that developers like Respawn and Naughty Dog use to establish natural level flow via blockmesh design, environment art, FX, audio and scripting. Using examples from shipped games as well as custom material created specifically for this talk, David shows early blockmeshing techniques that guarantee proper playtest feedback and verify layout changes work as intended. Attendees will then see many more "before and after" examples of how the best practices presented here improve a level layout’s ability to guide the player intuitively.

In part two of this session Robert Yang delves into one of the most important yet often overlooked means of understanding levels: light. Lighting is one of the most crucial design tools for setting mood and readability in a game world, but level designers and environment artists often lack the language and theory to collaborate effectively on lighting design. Robert will illuminate what light does for games and show how developers can use it to facilitate specific experience goals for games. Robert's talk begins with a brief cultural history of lighting before moving on to an overview of lighting design theory as well as various case studies.

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IN NON-LINEAR SPACES: 'UNCHARTED: THE LOST LEGACY'

Date: Tuesday, March 20 | 1:20pm - 1:50pm

Summit Speaker: Josh Scherr (Naughty Dog, Inc.)

Location: Room 3016, West Hall

Description:

When Naughty Dog set out to make a huge, open-ended area for 'Uncharted: The Lost Legacy', they had to adapt their usual "wide-linear" narrative techniques to allow for more player choice, while still keeping the development of Chloe and Nadine's relationship consistent and natural. In this talk, co-writer Josh Scherr will provide an overview of Naughty Dog's story development techniques, followed by a detailed look at the writing process for this unique area, including: cutscenes and gameplay dialogue, the choices and compromises they made to make it work, and the mistakes they hope to avoid in the future.