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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.

Level Design Summit: Player as Performer: Setting the Stage for Your Audience

Evan Hill  (Senior Area Designer, Obsidian Entertainment)

Location: Room 303, South Hall

Date: Tuesday, March 21

Time: 2:40 pm - 3:40 pm

Pass Type: All Access Pass, Summits Pass

Topic: Design

Format: Lecture

Vault Recording: Video

Audience Level: Intermediate

This session will teach designers how to pull the player into a character (regardless of genre) and give said players the tools to understand and enjoy performing as a character in the game.

This talk will rely on Evan Hill's experience directing players both in linear story games like the Last of Us Part 2 and in computer roleplaying games like Outer Worlds and Torment.

This will not be a simple talk about how to show the player where to go with lights and architecture—instead, it is about the subtle and obvious ways developers can inform the player of who they are, the range of their choices, and the stakes of their situations.

Takeaway

Attendees will learn how to lead players into living fictional moments, authentically as realized characters. The same way a trained actor would on a stage.

Intended Audience

This is for designers who want to learn how to fully immerse the player into their designs and worlds.