Follow Friday: The Develop Live speakers

We’ve revealed all the speakers for the Develop Live conference taking place in Scotland on October 2nd. Before you go, why not get to know the people you’ll be meeting?

We’ve listed the Twitter handles for each speaker below, as well as a quick rundown of their talks.

Tickets for the full-day conference cost £149, with discounts available for students, indies and members of UKIE, TIGA and Scottish Games Network. Contact James.Batchelor@intentmedia.co.uk to find out more, or head to www.develop-live.com to book your place.

Develop Live is supported by event partners OPM Response and Abertay University. To find out more about our competitive sponsorship packages, contact Alex.Boucher@intentmedia.co.uk or call him on 01992 535647.

From novel to game and back again

Christopher Brookmyre, author

Twitter handle: @cbrookmyre

Talk synopsis:
A summary of the experience of the Bedlam project and working with both the literary and games industries. As viewed through the experiences of award winning British author Christopher Brookmyre and UK based Indie game developer RedBedlam. Possibly the first true book and novel tie-in where the novel was written specifically to be followed by a game.

Video games psychology: How psychology can apply to video games

Berni Good, Cyberpsychologist

Twitter handle: @GoodBerni

Talk synopsis:
This short but no nonsense talk will largely focus on how psychology can be used and applied to the industry from design to monetisation strategies within gamer consumer psychology as well as ethical issues around using this science in an applied way.

Designing responsive cross-platform games

Graham Dobie, interaction designer, Chunk

Twitter handle: @rebobaydobay

Talk synopsis:
When games are produced for more than one screen, there are so many factors to take into account: the changing area of gameplay, differing interaction models on different classes of device and the myriad restrictions of working and running within the browser. Graham Dobie, Interaction Designer at Chunk discusses how these issues can be overcome

Broken Sword 5’s financial model

Noirin Carmody, COO, Revolution Software

Twitter handle: @revbot

Talk synopsis:
The studio behind Broken Sword reveals how crowdfunding helped to revive the classic adventure series, and what developers can learn from this example.

Facial performance capture goes 4D

Colin Urquhart, CEO, Dimensional Imaging

Twitter handle: @di4dcom

Talk synopsis:
The continuing demand for more true-to-life facial animation across the games industry is driving the need for ever higher fidelity facial mo-cap data. Developers require tools that enable them to acquire this data in cost effective and time-efficient ways. Find out more about how and why 4D facial performance capture systems can offer this.

Art outsourcing: A facial animation production pipeline

Dr Gregor Hofer, co-founder & CEO, Speech Graphics

Twitter handle: @GregorHofer

Talk synopsis:
This talk will show via the example of facial animation, how specialised outsourcing can help teams scale and increase quality at the same time. In particular the talk will focus on high powered AAA production pipelines and the tools involved to successfully integrate external animation production into internal pipelines.

Picking the right tools for the job: HTML5 vs Unity

Jesse Freeman, developer evangelist, Amazon

Twitter handle: @jessefreeman

Talk synopsis:
If you are looking to build true cross platform games there are two great options, HTML5 and Unity, but choosing which one to start with can be difficult. In this talk, Freeman will discuss the pros and cons of each platform by looking at the same game built in Phaser and Unity. He’ll also discuss publishing options for both platforms and how to create truly cross platform games from a single codebase.

How sound should sound: Round 2

Eden Morrison, sound designer & Abertay graduate

Twitter handle: @SoundsLikeEden

Talk synopsis:
Following his session at the IGDA Scotland Microtalks, Morrison speaks about the state of game audio, the oft ignored and much maligned runt in the litter of the game development disciplines. He will also discuss his belief in bespoke audio, as well as examining the advantages and disadvantages of licensed music and sound effects.

Virtual Reality: Developers’ responsibilities

Katie Goode, games designer, Preloaded

Twitter handle: @Katie_TriPixels

Talk synopsis:
As game developers we need to approach VR passionately but with caution. In such an absorbing environment we have a responsibility to take care of players, in order to allow them to be fully immersed (maintaining ‘presence’). Preloaded’s Katie Goode will be talking about how we have to be aware that such an intense experience can have both positive and negative effects, and what we can do to combat them.

Stop making video games

Brian Baglow, founder, Scottish Games Network

Twitter handle: @flackboy

Talk synopsis:
We live in aworld where rescuing princesses, collecting coins or blowing things up in ever more realistic detail is not really the point any more. SGN’s Brian Baglow says we can do more, if only we’d stop making video games and embrace the astonishing future and new opportunities which are in front of us.

Hoots Mon: Finding your way in an increasingly diverse games development marketplace… with a puppet owl

James Parker, founder, Ground Shatter

Twitter handle: @GamesWriting

Talk synopsis:
Armed only with a slightly broken Powerpoint, a puppet owl, and fifteen years’ experience, slightly broken games developer James Parker attempts to rationalise his career and subsequent gigantic midlife crisis into a simple set of takeaway points from which others can benefit.

PANEL: User research methods in the industry

Dr Romana Ramzan, lecturer in games design, Glasgow Caledonian University

Twitter handle: @Manak

Graham McAllister, founder, Player Research

Twitter handle: @grmcall

Steve Stopps, founder & CEO, Kumotion

Twitter handle: @KumotionUK

Talk synopsis:
Experts focus on helping developers to better understand how studying players and player behaviours can improve the game design process, as well as the importance of including user research in the overall development lifecycle and discussing the process of user testing in an indie studio vs triple-A.

How to build a one-man band

Nicoll Hunt, Head Honcho, I Fight Bears

Twitter handle: @nicollhunt

Talk synopsis:
Releasing and marketing quality games as a solo developer is a challenging undertaking, but as breakout hits like Thomas Was Alone, Retro City Rampage and Minecraft show, entirely achievable. Access to high quality tools, digital distribution and the ability to develop for multiple platforms has made solo game development more accessible than ever before. Hunt describes the challenges and obstacles facing solo developers and shares his methodologies and top tips for running a successful studio comprised of one single employee.

From pocket money to Flappy Bird and beyond: Things to know about copyright and games

Dr Daithi Mac Sithigh, reader-in-law, Newcastle University

Twitter handle: @macsithigh

Talk synopsis:
How does copyright law (and other legal mechanisms) promote or restrain the development of business models, creative platforms, and payment mechanisms? This talk – based on research conducted at the University of Edinburgh over the last year – provides developers with the most current information needed to understand the industry in which they work.

Why players don’t spend in F2P games – and how to change this

Chris Wright, co-founder & CTO, DeltaDNA

Twitter handle: @delta_DNA

Talk synopsis:

This session looks at how to build successful relationships with your players in order to improve both retention and monetization in F2P Games. It also argues that developers need to go beyond the reliance on basic metrics to focus on long term value of players through really understanding different behaviours and playing styles.

PANEL: Scottish ‘Beautiful Game’ winners

Andrew Webber, marketing lead – audience acquisition, Microsoft

Twitter handle: @andrew250469

Peter van der Watt, founder, Blazing Griffin

Twitter handle: @Tenebrious

Charlie Czerkawski, co-founder & CDO, Guerilla Tea

Twitter handle: @czerkawski

Isaac Howie-Brewerton, creative director, Pixel Blimp

Twitter handle: @HowieBrewerton

Donald Sutherland, Mogworks

Twitter handle: @3dhaggis

Kasim Qureshi, Geared Kids

Twitter handle: @GearedKids

Talk synopsis:
Following its Power Up: The Beautiful Game competition, Microsoft speaks to some of the Scottish independent developers that were among the winners about what they learned during the process and how they will approach their future releases

BAFTA Scotland Panel: Changing the Ratio

Dr Jo Twist, CEO, UKIE

Twitter handle: @Doctoe

Talk synopsis:
UKIE CEO Jo Twist is joined by high-profile members of the games development scene [panellists to be announced soon] to discuss diversity in the industry and how it can be improved.

Head to www.develop-live.com to book your place.