Throughout the Czech Republic, you have the opportunity to attend several different gaming events, each aimed at a specific target group. While some events are more aimed at players who don’t want to look under the hood game development and just playing games is enough for them, other activities are specifically called for by the most dedicated die-hards who even make a living developing games. One such gaming event is the GDS, or Game Developers Sessionwhere did we go this year.
Game Developers Session 2022 Held from 23 to 24 September 2022 in the capital, Prague, in the magnificent premises of the National House in Smichov. Both Friday and Saturday offered a somewhat busy program; those interested in the gaming industry could listen to one of the lectures of experts in this field during the day, go through and, accordingly, play one of the games from indie showcase, admire school projects or, for example, view interesting job offers. Thus, everyone could disperse throughout the territory of the National House and gain a foothold where it was best for him.
One of the biggest parts and probably the reason why so many visitors arrived was of course the aforementioned lectures. Three halls were allotted for them at the event, while two equaled a fairly large hall capable of accommodating a decent mass of visitors, and yet some lectures were so expected that they managed to fill almost the entire capacity of the hall. .
Among the most interesting ones, which were almost crowned with success, was the lecture by Jakub Vavrzyk, who told the audience about how the Hangar 13 studio dealt with rebuilding the infamous city of Lost Heaven for a remake of the first Mafia, how demanding was something like that and what procedures had to be used in the team.
For a change, Leszek Szczepanski delivered a lecture by Fr. procedural combat encounters in the game Forbidden Horizon Westand since here with Ala you come across something like this on every corner, it is not surprising that the desire to know what magic comes from the background of the name, it was quite popular among the visitors.
The next day she continued to discuss interesting topics. Veera Hokkanenwho reported on concept art to game Return, Daniel Vavra with a lecture on how to come up with, design and write a good assignment. And he finished Saturday, for example Jaromir Plahi with his lecture on Happy Game, which is one of the latest achievements of Amanita Design.
Then the second big attraction of the event was indie showcase or a section where developers and their small teams got together and tried to lure visitors into trying out their project, whether it was a game that was just starting or was already approaching a release date. Together with Bartas, with whom we went to the event, we even tried some games.
We were interested, for example Galaxy Highway, which combines the Bullet Hell genre with beautiful retro graphics and interesting levels. Funny named 2D jumper Bzzzzt Meanwhile, it brings its retro graphics to a slightly more modern presentation and also offers a very enjoyable gaming experience. I would not like to forget about a somewhat unseen game Netspectrum. It should offer players a kind of hacking simulator that won’t let you stop for a second. Of course, there were a lot more indie games on the GDS, but at least these few should be kept in mind. We think they might be of interest to you. And there was no lack MATCHO from FiolaSoft Studio who came to get more feedback on their story and arcade mode.
Such projects left valuable feedback that flowed from all directions, whether they were heard on the first floor or on the second floor, where the rest of the projects fit. But she wasn’t the only one reward, which indie studios selected. As part of GDS 2022, awards were also presented to the best projects presented at the event. The so-called GDS India Expo Awards included six categories, five of which were judged by an expert jury, and one award was chosen by the community and therefore visitors. The winners were in the following categories:
- Best game: Last Orikru (GoldKnights)
- Best Art: HeistGeist (Doublequote Studio)
- Best Technology: MATCHO (FiolaSoft Studio)
- Best Design: Bzzz (Ko.dll)
- Best Surprise: Curse of the Wolf Plague (Computer Science and Communications Vocational High School and SOW Colin)
- Community Choice: Bzzt (Ko.dll)
Announcement and presentation of prizes took place one of the holidayswho were part of the event. The first of these was a launch party that took place the day before the conference, and in addition to good beer and food, attendees could get their badge early and celebrate the completion and early release of The Last Oricru. The second festival was the already mentioned festival in the premises of the Smichov National House, where, in addition to awarding awards to indie projects, the so-called pitching individual projects, i.e. a very brief one-minute presentation, evaluation of the games that participated in the GDS Game Jam 2022, as well as networking or free entertainment.
Source: EnvatoThe Czech gaming industry reaches record sales, but does not receive support from the state
Although we are very grateful for similar gaming events in our country, we must say that GDS has room for improvement until next time. The venues where the event was held were cramped and an independent screening was definitely he deserved a bigger roomwhere people can move freely. The premises of the National House are fine, but for an event of the same size, and open to the public, perhaps an exhibition center would be more suitable, which could indeed accommodate a large capacity. It was also clear that the organization itself was the weaker side of the event.
Although we enjoyed the event in the final, we still have an obligation to convey to you, readers and organizers, the weaknesses of this event. However, we still think so. is GDS good for developers, who want to learn something, as well as for students or gamers who want to try different indie games. Hope to see you at GDS next year.
Source :Indian TV
