GDC Europe debuts Infinity Blade, Sony pitching, lighting design talks

In the latest update for GDC Europe 2012, show organizers have unveiled a brand new keynote from Epic Games on Infinity Blade and mobile graphics, as well as new sessions on pitching your game and using effective lighting techniques. These talks all fall within GDC Europe's Main Conference, which takes place Monday through Wednesday, August 13-15, 2012 at the Congress-Centrum Ost Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany. The full details on these new sessions are as follows: - In Epic's Programming track keynote, "Bringing AAA Graphics to Mobile Platforms," senior engine programmer Niklas Smedberg will discuss how the studio works with mobile devices to create the high quality visuals seen in games the developer's own Infinity Blade 2 and Infinity Blade: Dungeons. Along the way, Smedberg will explain how a tile-based GPU architecture works, detailing "how to modify and adapt the implementation of various graphics effects so that they become viable for this kind of GPU." With this knowledge, attendees will talk away understanding how to maximize their graphical output on mobile platforms. - Over in the Business & Marketing track, Pete Smith, the executive producer of Sony XDev Studio Europe, will offer tips on getting your game published in: "Pitching to Publishers: How to Impress and What to Avoid." Smith, who has helped establish Sony franchises such as Motorstorm and LittleBigPlanet, will explain what publishers are looking for and what developers need to do to impress them. In addition, he'll provide practical hints on preparing a pitch to make sure it sends the right message. - Finally, Robert Yang, a student at the New York-based Parsons School of Design, will host the Design track session "Lighting Design for Level Designers," where he will offer tips to help level designers understand how to effectively use and implement lighting techniques. Yang himself is a level designer with lighting design training (he created the acclaimed 2011 FPS mod Radiator), and in this session he will "summarize a body of lighting theory and common patterns, contextualize it within the affordances of player behavior, and discuss case studies / lighting strategies." These talks join numerous other sessions including a look at Hitman: Absolution's crowd system, Spec Ops: The Line's lead level designer on creating an emotional response through player choice, and a robust keynote on the upcoming Assassin's Creed III. For a full list of all GDC Europe sessions announced thus far, check out the show's newly launched Schedule Builder. Keep an eye out for even more exciting keynotes and sessions, and GDC Europe organizers have plenty more in store before the event opens its doors this August. Those interested in attending GDC Europe can secure their pass for the Gamescom co-located event now, as early registration is now open until July 18th. For more information on GDC Europe, visit the show's official website, or subscribe to regular updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS. GDC Europe is owned and operated by Gamasutra parent company UBM Technology.