The Game Access Developer Conference returned to the Brno Exhibition Center last week after a two-year hiatus due to the coronavirus. The result was two days full of lectures, which were accompanied right on the exhibition floor with stands of leading domestic studios and playable demos of unfinished titles from independent developers.
Musical intro
The whole event kicked off on Friday morning with a couple of live music performances. At first, visitors could listen to the song Aloy’s Theme from the Horizon series. The music from Horizon was not chosen by chance, because literally two hours later, the author of the soundtrack to both plays, Joris de Man, appeared right on the stage. After the last notes of Aloy’s Theme, another powerful experience followed in the form of an instrumental from the highly anticipated event STALKER 2: Heart of Chernobyl. Given the events in Ukraine and the move of the game developers to the Czech Republic, this was more than a symbolic demonstration.
In addition to the main stage, two more small auditoriums were set aside for individual lectures.
After a brief introduction and the official opening of the conference, Jakub Vavrzyk from Hangar 13 studio was the first to appear on the main stage, who told the audience how the environment for the remake of the first Mafia under the name Definitive Edition took place. In addition to describing the entire process, specific problems that the authors encountered during development were also mentioned. For example, the described attempt to find the password to the original files of the game, which no one remembered for years, well demonstrated that the development of a remake does not automatically mean less work and easier development.
After Jakub Vavrzyk, the aforementioned composer Joris de Man appeared on the main stage. He supplemented his account of composing music for both parts of the Horizon series and older parts of Killzone with individual audio samples and characteristics of the musical instruments used. Both of these lectures aroused great interest among visitors, the number of which even exceeded the capacity of seats. However, due to the large space around the main stage, the lectures could easily be watched by a large number of spectators standing nearby.
Lots of lectures
In addition to the main stage, two more small auditoriums were set aside for individual lectures, which were located on the upper floors of the pavilion. There was no shortage of interesting lectures, even in these slightly more intimate places. For example, in the smallest green auditorium, the head of Ashborne Games, Petr Kolář, gave a presentation on the creation of a game studio in the context of the ongoing pandemic. This was followed by a lecture on game development as a service, hosted by Agnes Beleg from the Polish studio Techland, in a medium-sized blue auditorium. Ari Arnbjornsson from Epic Games also made a presentation there, presenting the new features and functions of Unreal Engine 5.
But Game Access 22 wasn’t all lectures and parties.
In terms of lectures, everyone could really come up with their own. Representatives of major foreign studios and leading technology companies were given seats that were well supported by independent creators and developers from domestic studios. There were the founders and heads of the studios themselves, and the employees themselves in various positions, from designers, animators, artists to creative directors. Experience, knowledge and possible business issues could also be discussed in a more informal setting at the three parties where the Friday and Saturday programs closed. Sunday was devoted to a purely musical concert of the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, which presented selected compositions from all parts of the Mafia series.
But Game Access 22 wasn’t all lectures and parties. Pavilion P at the Brno Exhibition Center was mainly occupied by the stands of large domestic studios and more modest, but much larger areas with tables and computers, where independent developers demonstrated their games. As a result, I got so many impressions from various large and small indie projects that I decided to dedicate a separate article to them, which will be published soon.
There were also big players.
From the point of view of large studies, I was fascinated, for example, by the thematic stand of the Angar 13 studio, which was dominated by a historical machine. In addition, a PlayStation 5 competition was held at Hangar 13. It was “just” enough to complete the fastest lap on the famous Mafia: Definitive Edition circuit. Relatively newly formed studios were represented by the booth of THQ Nordic publishing house, which includes the Brno studio Ashborne Games and the Slovak team Nine Rocks Games.
In the area of the accompanying program, it is worth mentioning the retro corner.
The growing ambitions of domestic developers were also evident at the Madfinger Games stand in Brno, which recently announced that after years of developing mobile games, they will focus their project exclusively on PC for the first time. In particular, we are talking about a realistic action game with a first-person view. Representatives from Bohemia Interactive, Warhorse and Beat Games also attended the remaining studies.
Of course, the major gaming studios haven’t officially unveiled any of their new games here. In addition to being able to meet colleagues from the field, the studios created in Game Access were mainly trying to attract new members. After all, the big board in the middle of the exhibition space with the list of vacancies probably best illustrated that individual studios were still looking for new people. In the area of the accompanying program, it is worth highlighting the retro corner, where visitors could try out various old games for PC and consoles. The whole program was also enriched by tables with board games, the presence of cosplayers and a competition for the best game of the exhibition.
In total, Game Access 22 featured countless interesting presentations from a wide variety of game developers. They were complemented by a large number of independent creators who presented playable demos of their upcoming or recently released games at the event. However, leading Czech studios and a rich accompanying program also took part in the conference. Thanks to the informal atmosphere and the friendly approach of all participants, we managed to create an ideal space for gaining new knowledge, contacts, information and feedback for everyone who wants to realize themselves in the gaming industry in one way or another.
More information about the Game Access conference can be found on the official website.
Source :Indian TV
