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[Evan Balster]

This GDC was my second.  I liked it a lot, and met many people I've wanted to meet for some time, and many other great folks of all sorts.


Random highlights:

- Dinner gathering with friends develops into huge party before GDC even starts

- Met Chevy Ray, Matt Thorson and Tom Sennett, gentlemen whose work I respect (and all of whom were coming for the first time)

- Got a production deal

- Was unexpectedly asked if my game could be presented at the Experimental Gameplay Workshop, had to sneak in (thanks Terry) and ended up answering questions on stage

- Hugged by Daisuke Amaya after describing how I was affected by the moon scene in Cave Story

- Bought a bizarre piece of videogame art called "untitled (cat)" at Game Over 5

- Performed

at a fire in harmony with another guy at a party

- Gave out a total of about 120-140 of my very special business cards


The indie love flows strong at GDC; it's a reminder of what a great bunch of people the community is.  To all those I met, thanks for hanging out and I can't wait to do it again next year.  

Now, to get Infinite Blank back up.  FAST.


(Reminder:  I'm this guy...)

[jwaap]

<3

gave out 700+ business cards and I have no idea how

[ink.inc]

- Hugged by Daisuke Amaya after describing how I was affected by the moon scene in Cave Story

does he smell like peppermint and freshly cut roses like i have always imagined

[ChevyRay]

Evan dude I fucking love you.

[Triplefox]

• Got in contact with a potential advisor/biz partner in exactly the space I'm aiming for
• Got a free expo pass by browsing Twitter #gdc at random Will use Twitter more next year...
• Group trolling night
• Spent hours around IGF pavilion and Winnitron, still didn't play everything. They should give the games more room.
• Met Cactus, and rode a cab home with him and Phubans. He wanted sushi.
• Succeeded in going to useful and fun events and avoiding stupid corporate parties
• Didn't get sick...I think!

And many other things I've already forgotten.

[Chris Z]

Yea he was everywhere, enjoying GDC to the fullest 

[Pietepiet]

Fuck this was such a good week. Personal highlights:

- Just seeing everyone again. Fuck, I missed all you guys!
- SEEING CHEVY AGAIN YESSSSSSSSS <3
- Starting a kickass project with Beau
- The spontaneous indie meetup we did at Johnny Foley's
- Realizing that people actually know who I am. That made me feel good.
- Chilling outside Moscone in the park, in t-shirts, in the warm sun, IN MARCH. Fuck, that was good.

[Perrin]

(Reminder:  I'm this guy...)

Nope, I don't remember you.

[Amon26]

MET FREAKING ALL OF YOU, BOOGIED DOWN AND NEARLY TOOK MY CLOTHES OFF WITH SOME OF YOU! forgot to bring business cards, GOT TONS OF BUSINESS CARDS! KAYLA WORE MY GOGGLES (along with everyone else's face/head accoutraments at once) DID A WEIRD LITTLE DANCE, GOT MY ASS KICKED AT NULLSPACE BY TEKNOPANTS

YOU ALL RULED SO FUCKING HARD IM STILL AT HALF MAST!

[RabTom]

- The spontaneous indie meetup we did at Johnny Foley's

This was pretty cool. Wish it hadn't happened the day we flew in,haha I was pretty tired by the time we got to it. I remember someone commenting, "Oh, this guy looks drunk already" haha "Nope, just tired!"

I mostly hung around the Winnitron booth, but sat outside the IGS on Monday and Tuesday and talked to a bunch of indies

[PTibz]

-All the cool people coming by to play Octodad was awesome. Mega64, CliffyB, etc.
-Meeting some of the best people ever amongst the other IGF finalists and TIGSource crowd.
-KillScreen Loves Scandinavia party playing BUTTON and taking shots with Anthony Carboni.
-Passing out and receiving like sixty business cards.
-Watching people play Octodad on Kinect was cool.
-Spending way too much money on food and way too much time walking up/down hills.
-Getting to meet some of my heroes at the IGF Awards VIP Reception.
-Awesome indie talks given by Team Meat and Mossmouth.
-Indies give by far the warmest welcomes and are some of the nicest/most interesting people I've ever met.
-Playing the Winnitron.
-Finding a general direction for the future of Octodad and possibly a currently unnamed indie studio startup that I'll be working at soon.

GDC was the best thing I've been to all year.

[Evan Balster]

- Hugged by Daisuke Amaya after describing how I was affected by the moon scene in Cave Story

does he smell like peppermint and freshly cut roses like i have always imagined

Dude smells like a cave. 

Seriously though, I fucking love you guys.  (I think I had hangout time with everyone who's posted except Sandoval)

[Bood_war]

Well, I'm not sure what the best thread for this would be, but if I'm to theoretically go next year, what pass would I theoretically get? (So I know how much money to theoretically save up.)

[Triplefox]

Bood_War: Depends a bit on budget.

If you are super-poor, get no pass, just connect with people before GDC time and hang out with them and go to parties - regardless of what you do pass-wise you should make the effort to get all your contact info in order, arrange meetings, seek out party lists, etc. Have both "business" and "fun" goals in mind. If you are somewhat poor only get the expo pass, but expect to connect with people outside of the expo as well. The student pass is a sub-par experience; Friday just has a mob of people and they close earlier. You can also volunteer and get all-access with a few hours of simple work.

I wouldn't bother with the more expensive passes unless you're really interested in seeing stuff NOW. The sessions are recorded and made available online cheaply. So you can put together your "top picks" and pay <$100.

[Bood_war]

You can also volunteer and get all-access with a few hours of simple work.

What? EXPLAIN YOURSELF.

(In a year I could set aside a decent amount for this, though I still need to find out how much a train ticket to San Fran would cost.)

[phubans]

This was my fourth GDC and probably the best yet.

- cactus was my guest during GDC week.
- Released The Indie Game Legend and demo'd it at a jam.
- Had a nice little MADHOUSE tournament following the TIGL demo.
- Co-hosted a library meet-up followed by another TIGer meetup at a hacker space.
- Saw everyone again and met new people like Chevy Ray.
- Went to GDC, attended the IGF/GDC awards show.
- Had a really expensive dinner at Buca di Beppo.
- Went to this bar party/Nidhogg tournament, but didn't get to play.
- Was quoted on at least 5 different occasions in the past week.
- Went to the Killscreen VS Scandinavia event.
- Hit on multiple peoples' girlfriends.
- Dropped my phone in a port-a-potty toilet.
- Went to Derek's annual post-GDC house party, continued my tradition of sleeping over with cactus.
- Got really sick with a bad cough and fever after it was all said and done.

Probably spent $200 - $300 (or more) this week, lost a phone, got sick... But it was all worth it. I mean, this was an incredible time with incredible people. Everyone is so loving, talented, and supportive that it's amazing. I'm sad that it had to end, but there's always next year, and TIGJam, too. See you guys then!

[ink.inc]

You can also volunteer and get all-access with a few hours of simple work.

What? EXPLAIN YOURSELF.

(In a year I could set aside a decent amount for this, though I still need to find out how much a train ticket to San Fran would cost.)

If this is a real thing, I totally want to go next year...

[Triplefox]

http://www.gdconf.com/attend/volunteer.html

[Chris Pavia]

http://www.gdconf.com/attend/volunteer.html

Coworker of mine did that this year, seems like a pretty good deal.

[RabTom]

I sat beside a guy on the plane that volunteered. Apparently they got a shit load of swag during the conference and raffled it off to the volunteers at the end. The biggest prize was a week (I believe) invitation to Lion Head to check out their development process, all expenses paid, courtesy of Peter Molyneux.