Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
'
'
so you
t support shaders for that
type of gamer. A good game will configure itself to create the best experience it can
on the hardware. If you have a hard-core audience, make sure that your options
screen lets them tweak every setting possible. Let the flamethrowers turn on multi-
channel MP3 decompression, full dynamic lighting and shadows, full-screen graphics
effects like motion blur and bloom, ultra-high texture and model density, stereo
1600 × 1200 × 32 displays, and quasi-telepathic AI. Each of these options deserves
separate testing paths on all the hardware configurations.
It makes you glad you can send patches over the Internet.
ll probably still find video cards out there that don
The game industry throws awesome tradeshows and parties. Find out for yourself
and register for the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), usually held in Los Angeles
in May. E3 requires you to be part of the industry to get registered, so if you don
'
t
have a game job, then launch a game review website and call yourself
Every-
body else does. When you get there, play every game you can and dork around with
the latest console gear. The show floor is where the game companies pull out all the
stops to attract attention. You
'
ve got to go see for yourself. It
'
s unbelievable.
“
press.
”
Sneaking Around Is Definitely a Best Practice
Throughout this topic, I
'
ll be including a number of
“
best practice
”
tips from
my years of experience as a developer. I couldn
'
t resist including this one for
your first
dose. It can be a lot of fun to snag party invitations
from the in-crowd and talk your way into the
“
best practice
”
areas. A
friend of mine who worked for Dell was able to get into virtually every private
area of the show just by showing up, flashing his Dell credentials, and talking
like he was someone important. Almost everyone bought it. It
“
by invitation only
”
'
s all good fun.
If you want to learn about game development, go to the Game Developer
'
s Confer-
'
'
ence in San Francisco, which is held in March. It
ll find
the cream of the game development crop telling willing crowds some of their secrets.
Before you sign up for any of the workshops, roundtables, or sessions, it
s brutally expensive, but you
'
s a good idea
to do a Google search on the speakers and get an idea of what they
ve worked on
recently. Choose the sessions that have speakers with the most game industry experi-
ence and subject matter you
'
re ready to hear
—
some of them are fairly advanced. If
you find yourself short of the cash to register, sign up to volunteer. Sure you have to
work the show, but you will get some time for yourself, and even just an hour or two
will be worth it.
'
