Epic Games Readies for Action at Game Developers Conference 2012

[btarunr]

Epic Games, Inc. announces its participation in the Game Developers Conference (GDC) to be held March 5-9, 2012 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Epic will host press sessions and meet with developers and partners of its award-winning Unreal Engine technology in Business Suite 800, West Hall, at GDC 2012. In addition, Epic Games Design Director Cliff Bleszinski is set to host the Game Developer Choice Awards, and a dozen senior members of Epic's staff are scheduled to speak at the conference.



Leading the Way in Next-Gen
Epic will conduct business and technical meetings for Unreal Engine 3, which offers the best toolset available for AAA game development, from mobile platforms and web-based gaming to consoles, high-end PC and beyond. The Unreal Engine holds eight consecutive Game Developer magazine Front Line Awards, with Unreal Engine 3 receiving the most recent accolade for best engine last month.

Epic will also unveil a preview of its next-generation game technology, Unreal Engine 4, to select licensees, partners and prospective customers during the exhibition. Space is very limited, and appointments and non-disclosure agreements are required to see the Unreal Engine 4 presentation.

Those wishing to meet with Epic should email licensing@epicgames.com. Please specify three possible meeting times, the number of people planning to attend and whether those individuals would like to see a technology demonstration, chat with Epic business representatives, speak with Epic technical representatives or discuss other matters.
Appointments are not required but priority will be given to those with confirmed arrangements. In addition, Epic will host free advanced training sessions for its game engine licensees. Representatives from Epic Games Korea, Epic Games Japan and Yingpei Games (formerly Epic Games China) will be on hand to speak with licensees and prospective customers from those regions.

Hours for Epic's expo suite are as follows: Wednesday, March 7, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m., Thursday, March 8, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m., and Friday, March 9, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Announcing the Latest News
Epic will host media briefings on Wednesday, March 7, 2 p.m. - 3 p.m., and Thursday, March 8, 2 p.m. - 3 p.m. in its private expo suite. Thursday's session will repeat content from Wednesday. Media wishing to attend either event should RSVP to pr@epicgames.com with representative and outlet name, number of attendees and day preference. Space is limited, and RSVPs must be confirmed to guarantee entry.

Emceeing the Choice Awards
Epic is honored for Design Director Cliff Bleszinski to host the 12th Annual Game Developer Choice Awards, one of the premier accolades for peer recognition in the digital games industry. Each year, the Choice Awards recognize and celebrate the creativity, artistry and technical genius of the finest developers and games created in the last year.

Sharing Valuable Knowledge
Staying true to tradition, Epic is supporting GDC with a bevy of talented speakers. The following sessions are listed in order of occurrence.

• Tuesday, March 6, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., Room 2016, West Hall, 2nd Floor
  Level Design in a Day: Best Practices from the Best in the Business tutorial with the industry's top level designers, including Epic Games Lead Level Designer Jim Brown
• Tuesday, March 6, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., Room 3005, West Hall, 3rd Floor
  Producer Boot Camp tutorial featuring leaders in studio management and game production such as Epic Games Director of Production Rod Fergusson
• Wednesday, March 7, 11 a.m. - 12 p.m., Room 2009, West Hall, 2nd Floor
  Subtracting to Add - Environment Optimization Techniques lecture by Epic Games Senior Environment Artist Kevin Johnstone
• Wednesday, March 7, 11 a.m. - 11:25 a.m., Room 3009, West Hall, 3rd Floor
  Production Culture: How Two and a Half Artists Completed the FX for Gears of War 3 lecture by Epic Games Senior FX Artist Francois Antoine
• Wednesday, March 7, 3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m., Room 135, North Hall
  Back to the Garage: The Return of Indie Development panel featuring independent game development experts, including Epic Games Founder and Technical Director Tim Sweeney
• Wednesday, March 7, 3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m., Room 2012, West Hall, 2nd Floor
  Gears of War 3: Building a Better Pipeline (Presented by Autodesk) lecture by Epic Games Senior Technical Animator Jeremy Ernst
• Thursday, March 8, 10 a.m. - 11 a.m., Room 2002, West Hall, 2nd Floor
  Bringing AAA Graphics to Mobile Platforms lecture by Epic Games Senior Engine Programmer Niklas Smedberg
• Thursday, March 8, 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., Room 3014, West Hall, 3rd Floor
  Forgotten Tales Remembered: The Games that Inspired Leading Innovators panel consisting of industry luminaries, including Epic Games Design Director Cliff Bleszinski
• Thursday, March 8, 12:05 p.m. - 12:30 p.m., Room 2006, West Hall, 2nd Floor
  Tackling Large Scale Destruction FX: Lessons Learned From RAAM's Shadow DLC lecture by Epic Games Senior FX Artist Francois Antoine
• Thursday, March 8, 4 p.m. - 5 p.m., Room 3014, West Hall, 3rd Floor
  GDC Microtalks 2012: One Hour, Ten Voices, Countless Ideas back-to-back talks on the theme of "Paying for Time," featuring thought leaders such as Epic Games Design Director Cliff Bleszinski
• Thursday, March 8, 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m., Room 2009, West Hall, 2nd Floor
  Evolution of the Cinematic Process: The Gears of War Trilogy lecture by Epic Games Cinematic Director Greg Mitchell
• Thursday, March 8, 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m., Room 132, North Hall
  Re-orienting Development and Accelerating Production to Create Infinity Blade and Infinity Blade II lecture by ChAIR Entertainment Senior Producer Simon Hurley
• Friday, March 9, 10 a.m. - 11 a.m., Room 2016, West Hall, 2nd Floor
  Gameplay Data Analysis: Asking the Right Questions lecture by Epic Games Senior Web Developer Ian Thomas
• Friday, March 9, 10:10 a.m. - 11:10 a.m., Room 135, North Hall
  Killer Portfolio or Portfolio Killer: Advice from Industry Artists two-part panel featuring top talent from world-class studios, including Epic Games Lead Artist Wyeth Johnson
• Friday, March 9, 1 p.m. - 4 p.m., Room 300, South Hall
  Killer Portfolio or Portfolio Killer: 1-1 Portfolio Reviews one-on-one sessions with senior artists from half a dozen of the industry's most successful studios, including Epic Games Lead Artist Wyeth Johnson and Epic Games Senior Environment Artist Kevin Johnstone

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[dj-electric]

Epic, do good and kick the battlefields and call of dutys with a new UT.
I can only hope
#UT2K4

 

[NC37]

Return us to UT99 gameplay and theres a chance. Continue following after Halo, MW, and Quake...might as well kill UT.

Don't know if Epic can go all out and do a DICE, nor would it be a great idea. Closest we got was with the Physx levels in UT3 but those were custom done and they charged for them at first. Think if they really went all out and committed to environment destruction, they could do it. Problem is they have a lot of classic level designs which just weren't made for it.

Deck16 with environment destruction...lol one Deemer and its gameover man! Would be epic for Coret. Those meat grinder bases would open up quick as the rocket ho fests tear up the walls. Ahhh...good times, good times

 

[dj-electric]

I miss facing-worlds map, the original of course. That moment when you had the flag and was just about 40% at the bridge and you jumped like a monkey to dodge bullets and get over the over side..

UT 99 really shaped the way i play FPS today.

 

[NC37]

Ahh CTF-Face...how it made legends of flag runners, and created modern day hatred of snipers/deemer hoes

I did it on 56k back then which made it even more epic of a run. Had a flawless trick to it too. Spinning around + jumping as I ran back while keeping a constant forward momentum going. Tough till I mastered it and always knew where I was during the spins. Bullets impacting the ground around me as snipers swearing over open chat calling me a hacker. Wasn't my fault I was lagging so much they couldn't hit me!!!

 

[Mistral]

Hopefully UE4 will see the light of day in some good titles before the release of the next console generation.

Return us to UT99 gameplay and theres a chance. Continue following after Halo, MW, and Quake...might as well kill UT.

In the meantime - Tribes Ascend.

 

[Octavean]

Epic, do good and kick the battlefields and call of dutys with a new UT.
I can only hope
#UT2K4

Amen brother!

 

[pr0n Inspector]

Face it, all Epic cares these days are console markets. The only thing they will work on is another GOW.

 

[RejZoR]

Can't wait for proper UT made in Unreal Engine 4. UT3 was fun but it lost loads of its appeal when they simplified it with UT3. The whole point of UT was complexity and depth. Quake 3 Arena was for mad shooting where UT has always been more technical.

I also wouldn't mind returning back to Nali world using Unreal Engine 4...