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Game Developers Converence 2016

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Swizzle polycounter lvl 15


GDC 2016 is right around the corner, and it's shaping up to be a doozy. Tons of cool things are happening for game development this year, including the release of consumer virtual reality hardware from Oculus and HTC/Valve.

So, who's going? What are your plans? Got an in for a great party or meetup? 

The official Polycount meetup will be happening on the evening of Wednesday, March 16th at John Colins, just a few blocks away from the Moscone Center.
There's probably going to be a long line, so get there early. More info will be available soon.



Some helpful links:
GDC homepage
Last year's thread
Various points of interest around the city, including locations for the conference center and various tourist attractions

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  • Dmellott
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    Dmellott greentooth
    Breakfast at Mel's Drive In, Expo during the day and mixers / partys during the evening! Stoked to see what Polycount is putting together this year. Looking forward to catching you all there!
  • Swizzle
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    Swizzle polycounter lvl 15
    Dmellott said:
    Breakfast at Mel's Drive In, Expo during the day and mixers / partys during the evening! Stoked to see what Polycount is putting together this year. Looking forward to catching you all there!
    I had brunch at Park Chow not too long ago. It was a bit out of the way, but the food was great. They also have another location on Church St., which is a little closer to the Moscone Center.

    There are so many good restaurants in SF, it's unbelievable.
  • Dmellott
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    Dmellott greentooth
    Swizzle said:
    Dmellott said:
    Breakfast at Mel's Drive In, Expo during the day and mixers / partys during the evening! Stoked to see what Polycount is putting together this year. Looking forward to catching you all there!
    I had brunch at Park Chow not too long ago. It was a bit out of the way, but the food was great. They also have another location on Church St., which is a little closer to the Moscone Center.

    There are so many good restaurants in SF, it's unbelievable.
    Park Chow's brunch menu looks legit, might have to make a trip to the Church St location. You aren't kidding about there being so many good restaurants man. If you get out around Fisherman's Wharf there is a seafood restaurant called Fog Harbor Fish House. It's a little pricey but best meal I had the whole week.
  • Kazperstan
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    Kazperstan greentooth
    First time attending! Very much winging it slightly so it should be fun :D
  • valuemeal
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    valuemeal polycounter lvl 6
    So what's the plan this year fellows? 
    Hopefully we can go somewhere less crowed. 
    Also where can we get a list of events and parties?
  • haiddasalami
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    haiddasalami polycounter lvl 14
    King of Noodles was an awesome place to grab lunch. Ate dinner with some co-workers at some side-alley restaurant. Dont remember the name unfortunately but the mussels were awesome.
  • Savannakhet
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    Savannakhet polycounter lvl 11
    I should be going! first time too.
  • theonewhoknocks
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    theonewhoknocks polycounter lvl 6
    This will be my first time as well. I'm excited to meet everyone. Also curious to hear what kind passes are you guys getting? I'm going with just the expo pass, and then definitely attending any mixers or parties going on.
  • Tits
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    Tits mod
    Suuuup!
    See you there :D
  • HughieDM
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    HughieDM polycounter lvl 7
    I just got my pass! Im in!
  • wetojo
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    wetojo polycounter lvl 2
    This will be my first time too! Coming in from the Midwest. Planning on an Expo Pass. Looking forward to meeting up and learning more!
  • garcellano
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    garcellano greentooth
    Yeap, planning to go there, too!
  • Jeff Parrott
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    Jeff Parrott polycounter lvl 19
    I'll be hanging around GDC (stalking EQ and Swizzle) I'm sure if anyone wants to say hi.
  • heboltz3
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    heboltz3 polycounter lvl 9
    tight. Looking forward to it 
  • Marshkin
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    Marshkin polycounter lvl 9
    First time going! I'm super excited to attend. I'll have to make sure to swing by the meetup! 

    Any tips for first timers? I'm there for the entire week, and staying an extra day to explore the city while I'm down there
    (and it'll be a nice break from our chilly winter!)
  • Swizzle
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    Swizzle polycounter lvl 15
    Marshkin said:

    Any tips for first timers? I'm there for the entire week, and staying an extra day to explore the city while I'm down there
    (and it'll be a nice break from our chilly winter!)
    Wear comfortable shoes and bring a light jacket. SF doesn't get snowy cold, but it does get very windy and foggy almost every night. By comfortable shoes, I mean something like sports or work shoes -- anything with good support. You're going to be standing and walking a bunch, probably for 12+ hours per day. If you don't have comfortable shoes, get some now and break them in. 

    Avoid walking through the Tenderloin alone at night; there's a good chance you could get mugged. Dark alleys are legitimately dangerous around the TL.

    It's pretty helpful to have a phone charger on you at all times. Sometimes the large buildings around the convention center will block cell signals, causing your phone to drain more quickly than usual while it searches for service.

    Don't expect to be able to hail a cab if you need to get somewhere quick; the taxi service in San Francisco is crap, especially during non-peak hours or late at night. Instead, get Lyft and/or Uber set up on your phone.

    If you're traveling from any of the airports around the Bay Area to San Francisco proper, DON'T use taxis. They'll massively overcharge you, and a lot of them drive like crazy people. There's a BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit subway) line that runs directly from SFO, one directly from OAK, and a CalTrain stop very close to SJC that you should be able to shuttle, taxi, or Lyft/Uber to.

    Tip your waitstaff generously. They have to deal with hordes of sweaty nerds for the entirety of the conference, and those sweaty nerds are often bad tippers. 20% and a good attitude will keep you in the good graces of your servers.

    Bring tissues, hand sanitizer, and aspirin/tylenol/ibuprofen to keep on your person.

    Good food and drink are everywhere in San Francisco, so don't limit yourself to fast food. Check out some restaurants, and don't be afraid to explore areas far from the convention center. If you're looking for a good cup of coffee and don't want to go to Starbucks or Peet's, check out Blue Bottle and Philz; both have multiple locations in the city and both are excellent.
  • Marshkin
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    Marshkin polycounter lvl 9
    Thanks for the tips! I had no clue what kind of area we were staying in! I'll be using Uber a fair bit I think :) 

    Do you guys find you usually have to line up for talks you're interested in attending or is that usually not needed? 


  • almighty_gir
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    almighty_gir ngon master
    SO FUCKING PUMPED FOR THIS OMG.
  • Ruz
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    Ruz polycount lvl 666
    my god $1,599 for an all access pass. what a rip. who can actually afford this?
  • Gaurav Mathur
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    Gaurav Mathur polycounter lvl 12
    Students can apply for an IGDA GDC Scholarship.  Be sure to include a link to your portfolio:  http://scholars.igda.org/

    The application window has closed for this year, giving you a year to prepare for GDC and GDC Europe in 2017.  This year's scholarship winners:
    http://scholars.igda.org/congratulations-to-our-2016-gdc-scholars/

    For anyone interested in mentoring, it's one of the most rewarding things I've done.
  • atomander
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    atomander polycounter lvl 7
    Ruz said:
    my god $1,599 for an all access pass. what a rip. who can actually afford this?
    Also (for next year), check out the Conference Associate program, where you can volunteer to help with the conference in exchange for an All Access pass. The CAs themselves are a great bunch of people!

    http://www.gdconf.com/attend/conferenceassociates.html
  • theonewhoknocks
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    theonewhoknocks polycounter lvl 6
    Ruz said:
    my god $1,599 for an all access pass. what a rip. who can actually afford this?
    Tax Return baby! Just kidding, I would never.
  • Sukotto
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    Sukotto polycounter lvl 8
    Hopefully the stars will align in my favor and allow me to come this year!
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    I wish I could be there, but for being a student working on my folio for internships it is merely a dream. Just out of interest though, how do you guys afford these entry tickets? Is it your job that is paying? Thanks in advance! And have fun on GDC. 
  • xvampire
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    xvampire polycounter lvl 14
    lol  I will never pay any single day show event in my life above 100$
  • Tits
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    Tits mod
    When the job isn't paying, much people just pay for the expo tickets which are way cheaper.
    That's what I was going to do if I didn't get the full pass
  • PeterK
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    PeterK greentooth
    I've gotten the main conference pass every year for a very long time, but this year I chose to go with Expo pass. Honestly, I just got sick of the self congratulatory talks (ever since mobile started becoming a thing and everyone wants to tell me their magic sauce for "high DAU's"; except they just end up telling you how awesome they are, along with no useful info on making successful product), or the talks where they show you how they did "some amazing thing"... with in-house tools that they never plan to release.

    Get the expo pass, meet with good friends, have good food, and let the ether of this amazing thing we all do fill you up.
  • Ave
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    Ave polycounter lvl 4
    Will be there, the Australian contingent are representing :)
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    Thanks for the info guys. 
  • Norron
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    Norron polycounter lvl 13
    Super disappointed I won't be making it this year but it lands right in the last 4 weeks of our development cycle at work.

    There's always next year I guess, hopefully I'll be unemployed and get to see you all then.
  • illbleed
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    illbleed polycounter lvl 6
    Planning on getting the student pass.  GDC has always been a 30 min drive from me..  But this is the first time I plan on attending. Anything I should keep in mind for the student pass? 
    I'd also like to attend the polycount meet up. What sort of stuff should I expect?  :) 
  • Kurt Russell Fan Club
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    Kurt Russell Fan Club polycounter lvl 9
    @illbleed expect having a casual drink with people you'd generally consider to be rockstars and they're just super cool normal people.  Never had the student pass though so no idea.

    I can't wait to be back in SF and hang with you cool people
  • beefaroni
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    beefaroni sublime tool
    A bit too busy at work to make it out this year but have fun everyone! Hopefully I can get my hands on a shirt again :)
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