the computer game developer's conference

I recently returned from the 1998 Computer Game Developer's Conference, which was held this year in pleasant Long Beach California. The conference, which was held in the Long Beach Convention Center, was bigger than ever. For anyone who has never been to one of these gatherings the whole thing can be a little overwhelming. It was not uncommon to see dazed and exhausted gamers wandering aimlessly from booth to booth, trying in vain to take in everything that was going on. The computer gaming industry is big business, these days, and competition is fierce. Almost everyone involved in the industry was present in some fashion, vying for the attention of convention-goers.

The convention began on May 4 and ended May 8, but most attendees were there for the Expo which lasted from May 5-7. Inside the Convention Center it seemed as if every software and hardware company you could name had a space carved out on the Expo floor. Getting the conference-goers attention amidst all the flash and fuss was no small feat for the exhibitors and they resorted to a variety of tactics to assure they would be noticed.

At one booth, attractive and athletic female models demonstrated the state-of-the-art in motion capture technology by performing an aerobically challenging routine on a continual basis, their moves being translated to a digital character on a nearby computer screen in real-time. I must say though, I saw very few people watching the digital character. Many booths had well-known developers demonstrating the various companies' software and answering questions from the public. Other companies conducted large-scale demonstrations on a regular basis. Another popular attraction were the giveaways. Software demo CDs were just the beginning of the freebies being handed out. T-shirts, ice cream, squirt guns, expensive joysticks, rubber balls, and any number of other items filled the sacks of attendees. One of the most popular giveaways was free beer which was available at several booths. The fact is, it seemed to me that by the last day of the Expo, it seemed that most of the people there were primarily concerned with collecting as many free T-shirts as they could before the show ended.

Wiser attendees, and those with more experience, exercised a bit more strategy in their approach to the show. They were there to take advantage of the opportunities presented by a gathering such as the CGDC. Rather than wandering around the floor collecting leaflets and T-shirts they were huddled at the bar making connections and doing deals or they were pursuing a tactical approach to the convention floor, seeking out the people and companies with whom they felt they could do business. Another of the resources, often overlooked by first-timers, are the many private parties sponsored by the exhibitors at various hotels around town. These are the perfect place for networking and locating like-minded people. The biggest attraction, however, for those in the know, is Suite Night. After the floor closed Wednesday, everyone zeroed in on the Hyatt Regency where the exhibitors proceeded to throw open their doors for a night of food, drink, giveaways, a chance for hands-on examination of the newest technology and the opportunity to meet with people throughout the industry.

One of the most valuable resources, however, were the variety of sessions being conducted, throughout the conference. Covering a huge range of topics, there were sessions tailored to fit the interests and needs of almost anyone involved in any aspect of game development. There were lectures given by some of the most experienced and able people in the industry. Seminars combined speakers with audience participation on a wide range of topics. Roundtables consisted of open discussion on a narrowly focused topic. Many companies hosted sponsored sessions in which they brought in a speaker to address a specific topic or reveal new products or technology. There were also tutorials, day-long intensive courses on a specific software or subject, that were open only to conference attendees on Monday and Tuesday. Probably the most popular sessions, however were the conference keynotes, such as the Legends of Game Design and a session entitled The Need for Renaissance Men and Women In This Digital Age, which was hosted by the well-known Cyrus Lum.

Although, most sessions were open only to those registered for the conference, there were also plenaries, which were open to all attendees. These addressed such issues as; The Future Of Coin-Op Games, The Impact Of Games On Children, and Images Of Women On The Screen. At a session entitled The Future of Multiplayer Online Gaming, speakers from Dwango, Heat, Kesmai, Mpath and Ten addressed the issue that seemed to be on everyone's mind. Speaking of Dwango, these guys had quite a presence. In addition to controlling a sizable piece of real estate on the convention floor , and having some of the most energetic representatives at the show, they also had a biplane pulling a huge Dwango banner around the Convention Center throughout the Expo. Are you getting an idea of the level of hype accompanying this gathering?

Although I was unable to attend any of the tutorials, since I didn't arrive in Long Beach until the 6th, I wish that I had. Subjects covered in these intense day-long sessions, included ; Advanced OpenGL Game Development, Creating Games With JAVA, Writing For An Interactive Age, and Idea To completion: Creating Real-Time 3D Graphics. The latter topic seemed to be the subject on everyone's mind throughout the show. If there was one phrase on everyone's lips it had to be Real-Time. It seemed that every maker and developer was extolling their abilities to create in real-time, and those recruiting employees were definitely looking for people with experience creating real-time content.

Lectures, roundtables and seminars addressed a variety of issues, from business and legal aspects of game development to the future of the industry and getting started in the business to the actual nuts and bolts of content creation. There was a veritable treasure trove of wisdom and experience available to those with the stamina and organizational skills to take advantage of it.

I was invited to attend the conference by the Caligari Corporation. They flew me out to Long Beach so that I could demonstrate their flagship product; trueSpace3. The conference started for me Wednesday morning, as a speaker at Caligari's sponsored session: Low Cost 3D Graphics For Independent Game Developers. The session began with Caligari's founder and president Roman Ormandy, addressing the 50 or so people who had assembled upstairs in the meeting room. Roman extolled the new features available in the latest version of trueSpace3 and the company's new PluSpack1 CD including real-time shading and real-time metaballs manipulation, OpenGL support, real world environmental effects, a greatly improved keyframe editor, Inverse Kinematics and the ability to import and export DirectX objects. He also announced an exciting agreement with LightWorks in which Caligari will license the excellent LightWorks rendering engine for use in trueSpace. Following Roman, Scott Miles from Primitive Itch discussed the incredible plugins for trueSpace that his company had developed. These included Mesh Forge and Primal Particles which are included on Caligri's PluSpack1 CD. I have to tell you, those guys at Primitive Itch are some of the sharpest plugin developers around and it was a pleasure to hear Scott talk about the creative process. He is obviously a man who knows his subject. Yours truly brought up the rear. I demonstrated a few of trueSpace3's features for designing organic character models and discussed another great new plugin called ThermoClay that was developed by Alain Bellon, a real plugin genius, with a little advice and assistance from Bill Fleming and myself. Afterwards, Roman and Scott and I took turns fielding questions from the audience and then met with several of the attendees afterward.

Following the sponsored session I moved to Caligari's booth where I gave demonstrations of trueSpace3 and PluSpack1, answered questions from passersby and promoted the upcoming book I have co-authored with fellow VM contributor Bill Fleming ( trueSpace3 Creature Creations, published by Charles River Media), which is due to be published in June. This may sound like an easy assignment, but I warn those of you considering this as a way of getting to conferences you could not otherwise attend, it is hard work. I confess, though, that I did sneak away from the booth several times, in order to ogle the variety of technology on display.

It would be impossible to list here, all of the companies that were present at the conference. Some of the most prominent participants, in addition to Caligari, were Dwango, Microsoft, Logitech, Alias/Wavefront, Elsa, Softimage and Gravis. Everywhere you looked, something exciting seemed to catch the eye. Many companies offered a chance to try out their latest games or software. Several stations were set up so that participants could don 3D head gear and sample immersive VR games. Watching the people participating as they ducked and dodged virtual dangers while blasting away at virtual villains was almost as fun as participating yourself. AnimaTek was handing out demos of it's impressive World Builder. Heat.net was distributing free copies of Net Fighter to those who visited their booth. Aureal was demonstrating their impressive new A3D positional 3D audio technology. 3Dlabs earned a special place in my heart, as I was trudging through the Expo floor on the final day , hot, tired and sweating profusely, by providing me with free beer. Not just any beer, either, mind you, but Shiner Bock from Texas, which happens to be one of the world's really great beers. I also enjoyed visiting with Dan Farr from Zygote, and viewing their impressive collection of models. I found they were offering a great deal on their Sampler Volume 2 to Painter 3D users. We also talked about the upcoming release of Poser which will feature models designed by Zygote.

There were some lesser-known companies present as well. The guys from Angel Studio were working hard, spreading the word about the outstanding work they are doing creating great interactive 3D content for clients like Nintendo and Microsoft. The User Interface Group from Carnegie Mellon University was distributing beta copies of Alice, an easy-to-learn authoring software for 3D graphics in Windows 95/NT. Meanwhile outside the building, two advertising trucks bearing large signs, continuously circled the building assuring attendees that when you chose SGI it was Game Over. To an outsider, this much hoopla and fanfare over video games may seem like overkill, but when you realize what the people and companies present have invested in the future of this industry it is easy to see the reason for all the fuss.

There was one other area that was attracting a lot of attention, and that was the job fair. Occupying an entire corner of the floor were two aisles of tables behind which sat recruiters for various companies. SouthPeak Interactive, Neversoft, BTS, Westwood Studios, Silicon Gaming and Disney Imagineering were just some of the employers present, scouting for talented artists and programmers. Aside from finding a job directly, this provided a great opportunity to learn exactly what skills were in demand and what companies are looking for on your demo reel.

It simply wouldn't be possible to describe everything there was to see and do at the CGDC, but I can assure you it was a valuable experience. For those of you who plan to attend next year, the best advice I can offer is to pre-register and plan ahead. Sit down before you leave and assess what your goals are and what you most want to accomplish. When you first arrive at the conference, grab a program and carefully schedule the sessions you most want to attend, then scout out the bathrooms, snack stands and elevators. Ask around and find out where the big parties are going to be and then get to work. This strategy will work equally well at COMDEX, NAB and SIGGRAPH as well. If you use your time at a conference such as this wisely, it can be a valuable experience. But don't forget to have fun.


Darris Dobbs is a regualar contributor to Visual Magic. He is a professional 3D modeler, animator and writer and the co-owner of HieroglyFX Design in Wichita Kansas.

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