Animex Game
Monday 6 - Tuesday 7 February
OL1, Europa Building, Teesside University
In 2011 Animex Game welcomed speakers from a wide range of award winning studios to discuss everything from art direction to procedural level generation.
Schedule
OL1 Europa Building, Teesside University
Animex Game
| Time | Talk |
|---|---|
| 8:30am |
Registration Foyer of Europa Building |
| 9:45am |
Welcome Gabrielle Kent Head, Animex Game |
| 10:00am |
Overview of Environment creation for games in Uncharted 3. Teagan Morrison Naughty Dog An overview of the Naughty Dog environment creation process used in the Uncharted series – briefly covering the process from the idea stage all the way to the final result. |
| 11:00am |
Make them care – a primer on empathy in games Ed Hooks Acting Instructor and Author Empathy means ‘feeling into’, ‘identifying with’, ‘relating to’, and it is the rare game that can evoke it in a player. For starters, it is impossible to empathise with a character you can control because it is impossible to empathise with yourself. In this talk, Ed Hooks, author of Acting for Animators, will lay out a few of the challenges involved as well as some possible approaches. There are many ways to encourage a more nuanced emotional experience for the player, but if what you want is empathy, that is a whole other matter. |
| 12:00pm |
Lunch |
| 1:30pm |
Design Zen and how to get it Vaggelis Livaditis Game Designer, Guerrilla Games What does it mean to mature as a designer in the AAA games industry? First of all you've got to get your Design Zen, to mature your work perspective. This is the story of how Vaggelis got his Zen up, and how you can get yours too! Additional information in this talk covers Guerrilla's production and design processes, an honest account of the troublesome birth of one of the Killzone3 levels, several design ideas that never made the final cut and lots of tips from experienced designers on how they got their Design Zen up, and why they can't live without it. |
| 2:30pm |
Break |
| 3:00pm |
Why storytelling is gameplay is storytelling Karen Traviss Author In the bad old days, story was seen as something that got in the way of gameplay, but everything in a game works better if it's a tale well told. And that's not just a matter of nailing on snappy dialogue to hold the levels together after the LDs have had their fun. It's much more three-dimensional and all-pervading than that... |
| 4:00pm |
The art of Gears of War 3 Wyeth Johnson Epic Games, Inc The audience will receive a broad overview of the art direction, art production pipeline and the high level of craftsmanship that goes into every piece of artwork in Gears of War 3. The topics will cover aesthetic choices, the evolution of the franchise from an art perspective and detailed discussion of various aspects of the art pipeline including modular environment design, technical art and visual challenges, and modular character geometry. We'll look at some best practices related to UnrealEngine 3 and some lessons learned along the path towards shipping Gears of War 3. |
| 5:00pm |
Close |
| 7:30pm |
Players Lounge at The Hub, Students’ Union, Teesside University Join the speakers for a laid back evening networking over a drink. |
Animex Game
| Time | Talk |
|---|---|
| 9:00am |
Registration Foyer of Europa Building |
| 10:00am |
Making games? Great! Alex Trowers Designer / Project Manager, Remode Studios A look into what sets gaming apart from other entertainment and how to make them even better. Includes gameplay mechanics, anecdotes and possibly nuts. |
| 11:00am |
Art direction in Wonderland Ken Wong Freelance artist and designer Art Director Ken Wong shares his experiences of working on the dark, gothic Alice: Madness Returns. From overall art direction to specific, behind the scenes stories of characters and locations, things only get curiouser and curiouser... |
| 12:00pm |
Lunch |
| 1:30pm |
More beginnings than endings Alastair McIlwain Straandlooper With the ever changing definition of animation, its creation, distribution and business models, there is an opportunity for small animation companies to determine their own future. For Straandlooper, Hector: Badge of Carnage was a first step in that challenge. This presentation reveals the philosophy and strategy behind that continuing journey. |
| 2:30pm |
Break |
| 3:00pm |
Co-opting Portal 2’s cooperative testing initiative Jeep Barnett Game programmer, Valve It took over three years to expand Portal's minimalist design into a fully fledged sequel while maintaining the original's polish and charm. Jeep returns to Animex to reveal the development process behind Portal 2's experimental two-player campaign and its free expansion, Peer Review. Explore the unique challenges in helping players think cooperatively and the exciting opportunities afforded by their companionship. |
| 4:00pm |
The animated adventures of Portal 2 Karen Prell Animator, Valve Karen will talk about the design, movement and personality development of Portal 2’s mechanical characters Wheatley, Atlas and P-Body and the rebirth of rogue AI GLaDOS. She will also touch on the animation in the environments of Aperture Science and use of animatics in the development of Portal 2, for which she will show some rare exploratory animation tests. |
| 5:00pm |
Close |
Schedule
Stephenson Building, ICLT 1, Teesside University
Animex Game
| Time | Talk |
|---|---|
| 8:30am |
Registration Foyer of Europa Building |
| 9:45am |
Welcome Satish Shewhorak Animex Game Host Chris Williams Festival Director, Animex |
| 10:00am |
Making games? Great! Alex Trowers Designer / Project Manager, Remode Studios A look into what sets gaming apart from other entertainment and how to make them even better. Includes gameplay mechanics, anecdotes and possibly nuts. |
| 11:00am |
Art direction in Wonderland Ken Wong Freelance artist and designer Art Director Ken Wong shares his experiences of working on the dark, gothic Alice: Madness Returns. From overall art direction to specific, behind the scenes stories of characters and locations, things only get curiouser and curiouser... |
| 12:00pm |
Lunch |
| 1:30pm |
More beginnings than endings Alastair McIlwain Straandlooper With the ever changing definition of animation, its creation, distribution and business models, there is an opportunity for small animation companies to determine their own future. For Straandlooper, Hector: Badge of Carnage was a first step in that challenge. This presentation reveals the philosophy and strategy behind that continuing journey. |
| 2:30pm |
Break |
| 3:00pm |
Co-opting Portal 2’s cooperative testing initiative Jeep Barnett Game programmer, Valve It took over three years to expand Portal's minimalist design into a fully fledged sequel while maintaining the original's polish and charm. Jeep returns to Animex to reveal the development process behind Portal 2's experimental two-player campaign and its free expansion, Peer Review. Explore the unique challenges in helping players think cooperatively and the exciting opportunities afforded by their companionship. |
| 4:00pm |
The animated adventures of Portal 2 Karen Prell Animator, Valve Karen will talk about the design, movement and personality development of Portal 2’s mechanical characters Wheatley, Atlas and P-Body and the rebirth of rogue AI GLaDOS. She will also touch on the animation in the environments of Aperture Science and use of animatics in the development of Portal 2, for which she will show some rare exploratory animation tests. |
| 5:00pm |
Close |
| 7:30pm |
Players Lounge at The Hub, Students’ Union, Teesside University Join the speakers for a laid back evening networking over a drink. |
Animex Game
| Time | Talk |
|---|---|
| 9:00am |
Registration Foyer of Europa Building |
| 10:00am |
Overview of Environment creation for games in Uncharted 3. Teagan Morrison Naughty Dog An overview of the Naughty Dog environment creation process used in the Uncharted series – briefly covering the process from the idea stage all the way to the final result. |
| 11:00am |
Make them care – a primer on empathy in games Ed Hooks Acting Instructor and Author Empathy means ‘feeling into’, ‘identifying with’, ‘relating to’, and it is the rare game that can evoke it in a player. For starters, it is impossible to empathise with a character you can control because it is impossible to empathise with yourself. In this talk, Ed Hooks, author of Acting for Animators, will lay out a few of the challenges involved as well as some possible approaches. There are many ways to encourage a more nuanced emotional experience for the player, but if what you want is empathy, that is a whole other matter. |
| 12:00pm |
Lunch |
| 1:30pm |
Design Zen and how to get it Vaggelis Livaditis Game Designer, Guerrilla Games What does it mean to mature as a designer in the AAA games industry? First of all you've got to get your Design Zen, to mature your work perspective. This is the story of how Vaggelis got his Zen up, and how you can get yours too! Additional information in this talk covers Guerrilla's production and design processes, an honest account of the troublesome birth of one of the Killzone3 levels, several design ideas that never made the final cut and lots of tips from experienced designers on how they got their Design Zen up, and why they can't live without it. |
| 2:30pm |
Break |
| 3:00pm |
Why storytelling is gameplay is storytelling Karen Traviss Author In the bad old days, story was seen as something that got in the way of gameplay, but everything in a game works better if it's a tale well told. And that's not just a matter of nailing on snappy dialogue to hold the levels together after the LDs have had their fun. It's much more three-dimensional and all-pervading than that... |
| 4:00pm |
The art of Gears of War 3 Wyeth Johnson Epic Games, Inc The audience will receive a broad overview of the art direction, art production pipeline and the high level of craftsmanship that goes into every piece of artwork in Gears of War 3. The topics will cover aesthetic choices, the evolution of the franchise from an art perspective and detailed discussion of various aspects of the art pipeline including modular environment design, technical art and visual challenges, and modular character geometry. We'll look at some best practices related to UnrealEngine 3 and some lessons learned along the path towards shipping Gears of War 3. |
| 5:00pm |
Close |
The diversity of the event was clear as Little Big Planet and Costume Quest faced off against Dead Space 2 and Alice: Madness Returns while FreeStyleGames brought the beats with DJ Hero 2.
Late 2011 is looking to be a very hot season as far as long awaited sequels are concerned and many of these will be represented at Animex 2012. A special double bill is in the pipeline and, as ever, we're looking to give you a broad experience from AAA console studios to top selling online/mobile developers.
Make sure to polish your showreels and pop them on your smartphones or tablets for Players' Lounge where the speakers will be waiting to meet you.
Keep checking the site for updates on the line-up, we're hoping to make it the best yet!
