Hello again everyone. It's been a few days since GDC ended, and I'm sure you've already got plenty of coverage from other sources, we've been scrambling to piece together all the bits and pieces we've come across during this year's conference. It's been an incredible journey, and now that we're finally back to our safe lodgings, we can put together a little show and tell of what happened. Sorting through all these pictures is a monumental task in it's own, so this is going to be a two-part update. We'll start off with our own ventures and what happened during the award ceremony, then move on to some thoughts on what was on display on the show floor.

 

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This GDC was a bit different than the last one in a lot of ways. Not only were we nominated for an award, but this would be the first time the entire team had been gathered. As strange as it sounds, even though we've been working together for maybe three years, we've never met, not even heard what the others sound like. Definitely a new experience.

 

I arrived early as I've been staying in Texas for a little more than a month, preparing for the trip. I met up with Jo-Remi, our new programmer, and Blake, our old programmer, a few days before the conference and finally with Adrian, Mr. General greaser. Naturally, we got the dates wrong for his arrival, so when he didn't show up we had a veeeeery slight moment of concern which quickly passed as TV and drowsiness work as nature's happy pills. There was of course the slight concern that we somehow wouldn't get along due to a sudden personality clash, but that wasn't the case. (see article banner for more info).

 

 

This is what Owlboy looks like when you take away MSpaint. Personally, I find Otus a much better character than Mr. Text.

 

Despite me having an All-Access pass, I decided to camp out at the hotel with the rest to make sure we got everything prepped for our stand the following days. Naturally, having only one coder means I can't do much other than point and hope he fixes it, but then, I am damn good at pointing. Jo did find some fairly crucial errors though, so it's a good thing we brought all our equipment with us.

 

That is a damn comfy chair. Even giant death computer wrapped in plastic thinks so. That is if it wasn't too busy running algorithms. ...and was plugged in.

 

With the code prepped, it was time to head into town with our giant death computer. We wanted to get in the day before and make sure we had everything set up in time. Our hotel was a little out of town, but to save money we took the bus rather than spend to much on BART (the metro).

 

 

Before I say anything else, this thing is now in my living room. Hey! The Limbo guys helped! That's validation right there!

 

After about an hour on the bus, we got into the Moscone Center and found our stand. It's a pretty strange feeling to know someone on the other side of the planet constructed this thing for us, a bunch of people sitting in our houses playing around with our computers. I had a slight happyface moment. I think it's safe to say the others did too.

 

The looming presence of what were to come the next day...

 

All around us people were preparing their own stands and presentations. We did a bit of testing to make sure everything worked and naturally, something was wrong. Turns out they used a different screen plug than we had, and would charge us if we needed another. So it was off on adventure to find a Radio shack. As a nominee, I got a free Nexus phone along with my pass, so we used that to track one down. Quite handy indeed.

 

We've been spotted! Let's just hope they don't sen... OH NO! It's Metal Pecks man! Run for your lives!

 

When we returned, things were starting to take shape. I took the opportunity to sneak around a little more and check what the rest of the exhibition had in store. Not a lot of actual games that we could see, but it's still pretty interesting seeing things getting constructed.

 

 

Nintendo and their levitating boxes. I knew Super Mario was research material. I KNEW IT!

 

 

Am I the only one halfway expecting these things to fall down? Or to blurt out coins if you hit them?

 

Sony constructing that giant screen I mentioned earlier. What news will it bring? What wisdom will it share?!

 

Eventually we decided we had done enough testing to feel safe for the next day, so we headed out to get food and other edible substances. We arrived at the hotel late and woke up accordingly. We were obviously going to be late, but we didn't know how much. When we finally got back to the centre, Blake had already set everything up for us. No idea how he navigated my Norwegian computer, but hey! Everything seems to be working.

 

 

Look! People playing Owlboy! It's true, you CAN actually play the thing. I know. I was surprised too!

 

People started to gather around. Our game was finally going to be put to the test. Something we noticed pretty quickly though was that it pays to have pick up and play games at events like these. It's somewhat of an arcade atmosphere, and somewhat text heavy games like ours doesn't gather the same kind of crowds.

 

 

Damn you and your cameras!

 

Unlike our next door neighbour Shank... BUT! We stayed strong and kept at it. No amount of cameras would stop us! We would get our exposure!

 

 

See?! We've got cameras too!

 

Success! As the day passed, we got several interviews and people coming up declaring themselves longtime fans. It's just strange meeting you guys, actually knowing that we've got people interested in what we do. I can't thank you enough for your support.We felt proud. Group picture proud!

 

 

From left to right: Adrian, Blake, yours truly and Jo-Remi

 

 

I've seen the other stands, and not counting the cry engine 3 demo, we had the biggest crowd by far.

 

Things were going good, so we took turns checking out the expo floor and getting supplies so we wouldn't die and whatnot.

 

 

Nintendo's stand was minimalistic like last year, but used most of it's space for Monster Hunter 3, and I'm not complaining.

 

Finally, I'll get so see what wonders the great screen will enlighten us w... Wait, what? That's all the PS3 can do? Man, what a ripoff!

 

 

"I am using the Playstation Move. This my happy face."

 

 

Did I mention this place is big? It's big.

 

After scurrying around and much manning of booth, it was finally time for the awards. I have to say, I was honestly getting a wee bit nervous at this point. Like a true indie, I hadn't written a speech and despite my best efforts, couldn't find fancy clothing that didn't make me look like a mafia reject, so I was very casual. But then so was everyone else. Hell, Jo was wearing a Same hat, so I guess there was nothing to worry about... Yup. Nothing at all.

 

Hurry! We need to stuff ourselves in as fast as possible or else this entrance will NEVER be clogged in time!

 

Check in was done in alphabetical order by last name, every line being a set of letters. Only thing is, I have a middle name, and I didn't know if I could bring the rest of the guys. Needless to say, it was confusing. We finally got in though. The only question left was what the room was going to look like this year. It soon became blatantly obvious what it looked like:

 

 

RAAAAAAAVEPAAAAARTYYYYY!!!

 

 

RAAAAAVE! FLICKERING COLOURED LIGHTS OF PURE RAAAAVE!

 

 

We just have that look of awardwinnerness to us. Who needs suits!

 

Somewhere in the confusion, we had not been assigned a table number. Even though we were in the VIP section, we were made to sit at some benches on the side instead. Still, we were IN! Now let the games begin!

 

 

A lonely DJ tries to entertain the crowd. It fails. Mostly because he's not playing anything...

 

In the humming and bustle of the masses, the show suddenly kicks off. How? With a giant Canadian flag and a speech. Oh, and then:

 

 

A giant wall of fire! With... indie logos on it. This was it. This was when we would either get an award and widespread recognition for our work or.. um... not.

 

 

The lights hit the stage. The hosts for this year's IGF awards step forth.

 

 

The nominees are listed. Owlboy pops up on screen listing our names for everyone to see. Shame they got my middle name wrong, but hey! Who am I to complain! I would have a picture of it, but in all honesty, I was kind of preoccupied by the fact that we could win this thing, but I hope the videos GDC put up is sufficient.

 

The crowd goes silent. The envelope is opened. And the winner is:

 

 

Not... us... Aw crap. So close. The prize went to Limbo, the other stand next to ours. Still, We had our name on that giant screen for a good ten seconds, so there's no reason to be disappointed. We got damn close, which just means we'll be even better prepared next time. (this picture obviously isn't actually from the Visual Excellence award. Was still busy with what was going on, so this is the closest I could manage).

 

Nothing that can be done. Let's get on with the show!

 

 

OK GDCA! What have you got for us?

 

 

Mickey Mouse hats. Good choice.

 

The latter half was reserved for the big boys, so naturally, this year's biggest sellers or obvious winners ran off with a bunch of prizes. Uncharted 2 more or less ate the entire show, but there were some notable deviants.

 

Want to turn this picture into something completely different? Imagine the background is eyes...

 

Scribblenauts and Flower took home some prizes. I'd tell you what the others were, but I really don't remember. The rest of the nominees was kind of a blur.

 

 

And the crowd goes WIIIILD! (They really were. I was just too quick on the trigger before the announcement...)

 

 

"Hey guys. We're Mega 64. Yup yup. Definitely are."

 

 

Mr. Valve did a presentation, then ended it with a deliberate bluescreen. How do I know this? Windows is replaced by GlaDOS. Still, it's a damn good viral ad. The thing they did with those hidden dial-up servers? Freaking brilliant!

 

So... What do we do now?

 

 

Uuuuhhh...

 

 

Uuuhhhh.........

 

 

JOHN CARMACK! Yay.

 

Actually, that guy above is Will Wright, which fascinates me a lot more, but then, he's already won this award, so I guess it's only fair.

 

 

The show was over and the masses scurry off to find food or a place to theorise about the GlaDOS bluescreen and hack into a cleverly placed pentagon Valve account.

 

 

RUN! Run before Uncharted 2 steals your awards!

 

There were two more days of conventioning left after this, but I will be covering my thoughts on this within the following days. After the awards, we headed back to the hotel and did some fixes on the game to take care of some bugs we found while people were playing. The following day there were more interviews and opportunities presented to us. Not just funding or publishing offers, but jobs in general. Hell, we got more opportunities during those three days than all of us combined for the passed 7 months, which is saying a lot.

 

 

Eventually though. It was time to pack up and go home. We were caught for interviews even as we were walking out the door, so the place still felt alive even after things were wrapping up.

 

 

Hey! I take offence to that! What do you think I've been doing?! And damnit, I STILL want your game...

 

The others headed home a bit earlier than I did. I spent an extra day just browsing the city before I caught my own plane.

 

Am I the only one that really wants to try climbing those tiny hills for the hell of it? They've got virtually nothing on them! It's like a giant lawn with dents!

 

 

Looking out through the window with the humming of the engine drowning out the other passengers, I got some time to reflect on what we had just accomplished. A nomination for something we weren't even sure would make the list. Our own booth for everyone to try out our creation. Meeting those invisible people that care about what we do. Having our name out in front of some of the biggest people in the industry. More interviews and offers than we've had time to sort through yet, and possibly funding for the project.

 

I can't say I'm disappointed we didn't win that award.

 

 

Not by a long shot.