GAME CON 2013!!

Game Con 2013 was definitely a wild ride.

Game Con this year started very early for me considering we did not get any sleep leading up to the event.   After pulling a late night, my group and I were ready for a fun filled Tuesday of viewing our fellow developers games and art assets.  It was definitely worth the effort and here are the reasons as to why I feel this.

My favorite part about Game Con is getting to view what the other students in my year were able to produce in the same timeline and workload I had.  What I saw in a few groups amazed me.  I was very impressed with a couple of games in particular.  The first of which was "A Case of the Mondays" which blew me away when I first sat down and played it.  What really impressed me was the lighting the group had implemented in the game as it really added to the nightmare style atmosphere they included in the game.  I also was really impressed with how into the boss battle I was.  I actually feared that I would lose and would have to restart back at the beginning of the level.  I have never felt this in a Game Con game and it was a great start to the convention.  The second game that really caught my eye was GTFO.  The art style and Cel shading Sweet Sixteen implemented was one of the best I saw during the whole show.  It also helped that the studio was playing their game on a 50" HD TV.  Both of these games definitely deserved to win the 2nd year award, so I was very excited when A Case of the Mondays won.

Another highlight of my Game Con experience was the feedback other studios and profs gave us as they previewed our game.  The profs gave us great ideas on how to improve the mechanics, as well as certain gameplay aspects we could change to make the game perform in a more fluid manner.  Our studio was really happy to get the feedback and we are going to make sure to add in these suggestions next year.

Finally, It was great to see how other years games had progressed and how their designs turned out.  I was especially impressed with a first year studio who was able to implement multiplayer in their game.  I have never heard of a studio doing this in their first year and it was a great surprise that made me eager to catch up with them in future years.

2013 Game Con

Although it was ridiculously exhausting, I can not wait for Game Con 2014! Join me for my final blog where I review the 2012/2013 school year.