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View, browse and sort the ever-growing list of sessions by day, pass type, topic, and format. With this Session Viewer, you can view GDC 2023 session details and speakers, and share your favorites via social media. You will be able to build your schedule and access it during the show via export or Mobile App, once live. Sessions do fill up and seating is first come, first serve, so arrive early to sessions that you would like to attend.

'God of War Ragnarok's' Visual Scripting Solution

Sam Sternklar  (Senior Gameplay Programmer, Santa Monica Studio)

Location: Room 2006, West Hall

Date: Thursday, March 23

Time: 10:00 am - 11:00 am

Pass Type: All Access Pass, Core Pass

Topic: Programming

Format: Lecture

Vault Recording: Video

Audience Level: All

As games become larger and larger, designers are tasked with scripting more complex systems and sequences. Programming departments across the industry are responsible for ensuring that the environments and APIs available to designers are simultaneously flexible, safe, and efficient.

For the development of God of War: Ragnarök, Santa Monica Studio found its existing scripting solution lacking, and set out to alter both the tools available for scripting and how their designers approach scripting as a whole—and in the process give more freedom to designers and programmers alike.

This talk discusses using event-based scripting, command deferral, and strong collaboration with designers in the context of creating a flexible, safe, and efficient scripting environment.

Takeaway

Attendees will learn both Santa Monica Studio's approach to scripting for it's games, as well as a set of techniques employed by programmers to fulfill designer requests without sacrificing flexibility across gameplay systems.

Intended Audience

This is for programmers who frequently interface with designer scripting, and programmers looking for ways to plan system architecture for efficient scripting.