Author Archive: admin

Up Next – ECGC

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GDC has come and gone. So, too, has Scares That Care Authorcon II, both of which were lovely and exciting experiences. Returning to GDC in person was wonderful. The Narrative Summit, which I sit on the advisory board for, was excellent. The student presenters who had won the competition I judge were superb and in one case, extremely moving. And my three round tables were full, with lively discussion and good back-and-forth from a wide range of attendees. I got to see too many friends there to recount, and made some new ones along the way.

AuthorCon II was a very different show, being devoted to (surprise) writers and all things writing. Again, saw a great many friends and was introduced to new ones there. I caught up with folks like Maurice Broaddus and Tim Lebbon, whom I hadn’t seen in seven and thirteen years respectively, as well as many others. I also ran a four hour workshop on writing for video games that had good attendance from sharp students who asked good questions. I went home tired but happy.

So with that done, time to rest, right? Wrong! Next week is East Coast Game Conference, for which I help wrangle narrative content. It’s a wonderful show – low pressure, high content, and very friendly – and I’m glad to be a part of it. If you can get to Raleigh next week and you have an interest in gamedev, check it out! I’ll see you there!

 

GDC Incoming!

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Next week is the annual Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. I’m going, in part because I’m part of the advisory board for the Game Narrative Summit (which runs Monday and Tuesday) and in part because I’m running narrative round tables during the main show Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and in part because my employers at Crytek are kind and generous people.

Part of the Game Narrative Summit will be the presentation of the winning entries from the student narrative competition that I judge each year. I am honored to do the judging and happy to see what each year’s crop of up-and-coming game development students think about the narratives of their favorite games.

I’ve been going off and on, mostly on, since 2000. My first talk was about believability versus realism in Ghost Recon; since then I’ve spoken on various other topics and run my roundtables, and it’s always a pleasure and an honor.

GDC is also a wonderful opportunity to catch up with friends and professional peers. I’m looking forward to seeing folks I see maybe once a year, but whose voices are loud and clear in the narrative and design communities. And if we have a few drinks to celebrate each other, that’ll be fine, too.

New Year, New Job

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This week I started my new job at Crytek, working as Franchise Narrative Director for Hunt: Showdown. I am pleased to say it was a great first week. I like the team I’ll be working with and I’m looking forward to doing great things with them.

Leaving Red Storm, Joining Crytek

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This pretty much says it all.

After 23 years, I will be leaving Red Storm Entertainment at the end of December and starting work at Crytek to work on their horror game HUNT: SHOWDOWN. I am incredibly excited about this new opportunity, and I am looking forward to joining the team that has already done so much great work creating the world of HUNT.

I am nothing but grateful to Red Storm and Ubisoft for the opportunities to learn and grow they have afforded me over the years, but this was an opportunity I could not in good conscience refuse. It’s literally everything I’ve wanted to do in a game for years.

I’ll be staying in North Carolina and working remotely, and I look forward to sharing more with you as things progress.