Monday was the first day of GDC, however as scholars we were instead given the chance to visit a number of local studios. Double Fine was the first port of call, and was a fantastic experience. Everyone in the studio was welcoming and happy to pass on advice, and we were given the opportunity to grill developers from a number of disciplines including Tim Schafer himself. The studio itself seemed a vibrant and lively place to work, packed with artwork and props.
Next stop was LucasArts, a significantly different studio. Again we had the chance to talk to some developers, but in this case recruitment specialists were clearly taking the lead. The tour we were given was fascinating, like walking through a museum of matte paintings and Star Wars memorabilia. Overall the opportunity was definitely enjoyable, but didn’t give much insight into daily life at the studio.
Finally, we headed towards Playdom for an excellent talk on Social Games from Eric Todd. I was entirely unsure what to expect from this before attending, but overall the talk itself was interesting and Eric was entirely open to answering our countless questions so I got a lot from the event.
I don’t want to conclude every single diary entry with a paragraph stating how awesome the IGDA scholarship programme is but seriously, I would never have had these opportunities without it and the organised (Jack, Gordon and Sheri) are owed massive thanks. To any students reading: don’t pass up on the chance to apply next year.