AT GDC there is a strong success bias – you are not going to hear a lot of companies trumpet their failures. Failure, however, can be often be more instructive than success. That’s why you might want to consider attending the GDC “Failure Workshop” and hear first hand experienced game developers who will speak candidly about those times when development didn't go well, when things didn't work out, and what the hard won lessons were from their painful misadventures.
The workshop will be hosted by Steve Swink - Founder of CubeHeart Games; Ben Esposito - Founder of Little Flag; Adam Saltsman – Founder and Studio Director of Finji; and Will Stallwood - Co-founder of Cipher Prime. It will be held in Room 2005, West Hall on Tuesday, March 3 from 11:15am - 12:15pm.
Or perhaps you’d like to dive deeper into the how developers put limitations on themselves with a presentation by Adriel Wallick (Indie Developer – MsMinotaur) who will discuss various self-constraints that developers tend put on themselves and discuss ways to remove them. This talk will also discuss the benefits of placing constructive constraints on yourself in order to better hone your design skills and motivation. The presentation will be held in Room 2005, West Hall on Tuesday, March 3 from 3:35pm - 4:00pm.
Of course, its all not doom and gloom at GDC, you can expect the event to be dominated by game development success stories, new game announcements, industry tool providers new releases, and much more. If you’re attending the event you should access the GDC Session Scheduler, where you can build your schedule in advance and access it during the show via export or with the GDC Mobile App. The scheduler does not register your attendance in advance - sessions fill up quickly so arrive early to sessions that you would like to attend.
If you’ve already registered for GDC you can access the scheduler
here. If you haven’t registered for the show, you can do so
here.