What sessions to attend at IGC?

#1 I have a question about "AI in Torque - Breakout #1" under the Torque Track. Would this session be appropriate for someone looking for more education on general AI principles, or is it going to focus more on actual AI programming? Or if both, how much of each? In other words, if I'm not a programmer but a designer, would I still be interested in this session?

I also have a question about "The DTS Exporter Myth-busting - Breakout #3" under the artist track. It says, "...use the DTS Exporter with your 3D application..." Specifically which of "your 3d applications" will this breakout cover, and will one of those applications be GameSpace?

Finally, the same DTS question applies to "Character Animation and Torque - Breakout #5" under the artist track -- which program(s) will be used to make the "custom skeletal rig," and will one of those programs be GameSpace?

Thanks.

#2 Personally I'm looking forward to Jeff's "Scaling Your Game and Making it Fun", not because I'm a game developer, but because I'm a die hard fan boy. I'll also be attending:

Indie Game Entrepreneurship - because I like what she's doing at indiespace, and I figure much of it can apply very easily to us at DIY Games.

Starting up a Game Studio - Because, uhm, well, i'm not sure. But I figure it could be cool.

Arcade and Coin-op Development - Because I'm dying to know more about this. I'm also hoping they give up some numbers on the state of the coin-op world, and how things went at the convention in Vegas.

Marketing Your Game - because it seems like it applies to us at DIY. (see, it's all about ME! me dammit!)

Surviving as an Indie - Because these guys rock, and it was an interesting talk last year.

Indie PR - Because the first years discussion was awesome, and last years seemed to be a talk on how to market an indie title like Max Payne 2(??), hehe. Besides, i need to suck up to Scott.

So yeah, nothing much on the technical stuff for me, I wouldn't know a shader from a hole in the wall :) Most of my time will undoubtedly be spent in the ShowOFF area.

#3 For the DTS Exporter session, I'll try to talk about the information in a broad sense, so that people can apply that information to their respective programs. I'll be talking about things like naming conventions, node setup, what type of data is exported, how Torque handles the data, loading shapes and animations in the Show Tool, etc. Even though I will most likely be using Maya for the demonstrations, the information presented will be applicable to all supported 3d applications.

The Character Animation session will be structured in a similar fashion. I'll mostly be talking about general concepts and processes of getting animated characters into Torque. The custom rigging demonstration will probably be done in Maya, but, again, the information will be applicable to other 3d programs. I won't be going into the technical details of setting up a custom rig. Rather, I'll be talking about things to consider when building custom rigs, such as naming conventions, rig structure for multiple characters, control setup, editing script files, etc.

I think that no matter what program you use (I personally use Maya and Max), you will still gain a lot of good information from the art sessions. 3D applications are similar enough that it should be much trouble translating information from one app to another.

#4 *bah* I was OT .. sorry.

#5 @Danny: Thanks for the reply, that sounds good. I imagine a similar thing for the AI session, more broad strokes than fine programming-level details.

#6 @Joshua: I'll be at the The DTS Exporter Myth-busting - Breakout and will be available to answer any questions specific to the gameSpace exporter.

Later
Matt Summers

#7 I will be presenting a session on creating custom UVWs and Textures. The version of this session that we did last year was very popular, enjoyed and well recieved and there have been some small changes and enhancements done for this years session.

#8 I'll definitely be at the DTS exporter session.
I'm largely interested in making Torque do things which are pretty non-traditional in the Game sense,
such as file sharing & player-modifiable levels.

#9 I'm very bias but I think we have the best lineup of sessions ever this year - the entire Artist track totally rocks, we have great Torque sessions both on current tech and future additions. Our business track has what you'd usually pay $500-$1000 for a 2 day seminar on and the Hands-on session will be great as well.

We've had a couple openings during the #3 breakout time frame so we'll probably take a poll on topics attendees would like to see some discussion groups engage on - one idea was having a speed team building session where those looking to join teams and those recruiting could - do quick 5 minute interviews.

#10 Does anyone have any ideas as to what events an audiophile should attend?
i'm mainly going to sell my talents, but since i paid for the whole thing, i'd like to take in some talks.