Game Developers came together in Brighton this week for the expo and conference at Develop:Brighton. Predicting to be the biggest year yet with over 2000 attendees, people travelled from all over the UK to showcase the games they produce and share creative ideas.
It has established itself as being the leading European conference for game developers since it began in 2006. Andy Lane the event Director for Develop: Brighton has worked in the games industry for 20 years chose to bring people together in Brighton because it is ‘very creative’ and ‘suits the industry’. He says; “Coming down here for three days tends to bring everybody down to stay in and around town and that fosters sort of much better networking opportunities and the opportunity to share information with fellow developers.”
The conference opens with an event called Evolve which looks to the future and what opportunities it holds for the gaming community. But developers flock her internationally aiming to find the best practice. Focused talks on specific disciplines; from coding tracks to game design, help developers refine their everyday skills. The networking; the event encourages, and inspires, allows people to pick up tips and new techniques to try, whilst connecting with relevant industry professionals.
The expo exhibited the move away from large triple A games to smart phone development and virtual reality. The games on display allowed people to test drive the virtual headsets and get a feel for the games. We tried one of the games produced by Kingston University undergrad students. The game transported you to another land completely and engaged your senses, the handsets let you grab things and sent vibrations through your hands when you touched something, the 360 animation felt like you were in another dimension and the music finished setting the scene.
Another exciting booth was the motion capture, we watched the actors actions be recorded using infrared technology and converted into digital characters.
The event is held every year by Tandem events here in Brighton and if you want to get involved the best way is to reach out to them with your story. Their next event Develop: VR takes place in London this November. To find out more information about Develop: Brighton you can visit their website here.
