CamHostage
Member
This is a soon-to-be-moot post, since GDC technically started already on the 18th. (The GDC Expo floor and some of the potentially gamer-delighting sessions won't happen until the 20th, so this is still the preamble period.) Still, I thought it might be helpful to set a timeline for a few potential events to look out for this week.
There are no big major-publisher keynote scheduled, so don't look for big stuff. (Nothing is on the official docket where Sony would be likely introduce its PS5 Pro or anything like that.) Also, most of the individual company sessions don't get streamed, so even if you're fascinated by "3D Toon Rendering in Hi-Fi RUSH", presentations like this are generally private only. Mostly, this thread is for the Unreal event tomorrow (where hopefully UE5.4 and other new developments will be showcased,) but there are usually a few things which entice game players to learn about upcoming tech.
Here's some highlights I've found:
EPIC GAMES
State of Unreal : March 20 @ 9:30 AM PDT. This is likely the main one to not miss, as the Unreal Engine presentations have been the GDC highlight since 2020. (Whether UE5 has lived up to the promises, eh, but that is its own discussion, but it's always cool to see what Epic is cooking.) The next version Unreal Engine will likely be the spotlighted tech, and UEFN might also be in the mix. UE 5.4 roadmap features are not as cool on paper as previous events where Lumen and Nanite and PCG dropped jaws, but cool-shit or not, the stability and performance improvements worked on for UE5.3 and 5.4 should actually help the games made with it live up to the potential we've been wanting since UE5 was unveiled.
Unreal Engine 5.4 Sneak Peek : March 20 @ 11 AM PDT & 1 PM PST & March 21 @ 10:30 AM. More chances to see what improvements Unreal will offer developers this year. Note that there are multiple sessions, for whatever reason.
Beyond Fortnite: Taking Your UEFN Experience to the Next Level : March 20 @ 12 PM PDT. UEFN is the hobbyist version of UE included in Fortnite. If the full-fledged UE is too much to handle but you've been interested in making your own games, check out this session to get started making the game of your "Dreams"...
Pushing Next-Gen Real-Time Technology : March 20 @ 12:30 PM PDT. This is probably going to be too techie-talk for most of us, but it could have a cool demo inside it?
UEFN Roadmap : March 20 @ 2PM. More about UEFN, the hobbyist version of UE included in Fortnite.
Beyond Fortnite: Taking Your UEFN Experience to the Next Level : March 20 @ 3 PM. Even more bout UEFN, the hobbyist version of UE included in Fortnite.
There are other Unreal events, but these are the ones likely to pique a gamer's curiosity. Unlike most GDC conferences, Unreal shares a lot of its event streams to the public, so you might be interested to dive in deeper if you like engine and tech chat. Full schedule is here:
www.unrealengine.com
UNITY
The AI Revolution: An Expert-led Discussion on Generative AI's Potential in Gaming : March 20 @ 12:30PM PDT. (didn't stream) Don't expect any cool game demos, but if they do post this to the public, this may be a comprehensive state of AI chat.
Mecha BREAK’s Virtual Geometry : March 21 @ 4PM. I doubt this will stream (it isn't scheduled to), but I put this on because this game by Seasun Games is one of a few attempts to bring Nanite-type mesh handling to Unity Engine. It's not an amazing result IMO, but you can see what they're up to in the 2023 game trailer. Coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox.
Unity has its own Unite events where it usually unveils major new iterations, and they unveiled their major Unity 6 update last November, which GAF talked about here and saw video of already. None of the scheduled events hit at anything awesome like the Enemies demo, not even a scheduled Ziva Dynamics showcase. Plus, Unity is in a spot of "rebuilding" after a rough 2023.
NVIDIA
Advances in Ray Tracing Developer Tools : March 20 @ 12:30 PM PDT. (Might not stream?) This will be developer-focused in talks about Shader Debugger and Shader Profiler tools, but maybe there will be eye candy here?
(Also see the GTC AI conference presentation that Jensen Huang did on the 18th of "announcements on AI advances that are shaping our future". Video and GAF Thread already available)
AMD
Mesh Shaders in AMD RDNA 3 Architecture : March 20 @ 9AM PDT. ( Didn't stream.)For all those been wondering why mesh/primitive shaders / virtualized geometry hasn't revolutionized game graphics, this might outline the future of this exciting approach to graphic rendering... for future-gen platforms.
High Performance Rendering in Snowdrop Using AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 3 : March 20 @ 10:30 AM. (Didn't stream; might see clips or news reports later?) Massive's Snowdrop engine has been particularly strong at pulling out the power of current-gen consoles, with Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora being one of the most impressive and advanced games on the market, and Star Wars Outlaws stunning all the same in its trailer debut. Probably nothing new of Star Wars or other games will be in this showing, but given that both Snowdrop games and AMD FidelityFX are on all current platforms, this might be informative if you can catch it.
(Didn't stream, but AMD FSR 3.1 was announced and showcased there. No new Snowdrop engine features were shown, apparently it was instead about the work Massive did to make Avatar the first game with FSR3 support.)
Global Illumination With AMD FidelityFX Brixelizer : March 20 @ 2PM. (Might not stream?) Brixelizer is AMD's tech to optimize Global Illumination or Ambient Occlusion for RT-quality effects without murdering framerate via real-time sparse distance fields (SDFs). So, probably a techie talk, but maybe there'd be eye candy?
INDUSTRY
State Of The Game Industry: Devs Discuss Layoffs, Generative AI, And More : March 18th (Cormack12 already put together a helpful thread about this)
Nintendo has post-mort panels scheduled for Zelda: TotK and Super Mario Wonder, but neither of these will be public. Sony and Xbox and Meta panels on the schedule all look to be private and mostly of the deep-dive post-mort variety. One of these console manufacturers or engine developers may still drop a sudden announcement during GDC time which may have importance to players, but something like this wouldn't be on the schedule.
There are no big major-publisher keynote scheduled, so don't look for big stuff. (Nothing is on the official docket where Sony would be likely introduce its PS5 Pro or anything like that.) Also, most of the individual company sessions don't get streamed, so even if you're fascinated by "3D Toon Rendering in Hi-Fi RUSH", presentations like this are generally private only. Mostly, this thread is for the Unreal event tomorrow (where hopefully UE5.4 and other new developments will be showcased,) but there are usually a few things which entice game players to learn about upcoming tech.
Here's some highlights I've found:
EPIC GAMES
State of Unreal : March 20 @ 9:30 AM PDT. This is likely the main one to not miss, as the Unreal Engine presentations have been the GDC highlight since 2020. (Whether UE5 has lived up to the promises, eh, but that is its own discussion, but it's always cool to see what Epic is cooking.) The next version Unreal Engine will likely be the spotlighted tech, and UEFN might also be in the mix. UE 5.4 roadmap features are not as cool on paper as previous events where Lumen and Nanite and PCG dropped jaws, but cool-shit or not, the stability and performance improvements worked on for UE5.3 and 5.4 should actually help the games made with it live up to the potential we've been wanting since UE5 was unveiled.
Unreal Engine 5.4 Sneak Peek : March 20 @ 11 AM PDT & 1 PM PST & March 21 @ 10:30 AM. More chances to see what improvements Unreal will offer developers this year. Note that there are multiple sessions, for whatever reason.
Beyond Fortnite: Taking Your UEFN Experience to the Next Level : March 20 @ 12 PM PDT. UEFN is the hobbyist version of UE included in Fortnite. If the full-fledged UE is too much to handle but you've been interested in making your own games, check out this session to get started making the game of your "Dreams"...
Pushing Next-Gen Real-Time Technology : March 20 @ 12:30 PM PDT. This is probably going to be too techie-talk for most of us, but it could have a cool demo inside it?
UEFN Roadmap : March 20 @ 2PM. More about UEFN, the hobbyist version of UE included in Fortnite.
Beyond Fortnite: Taking Your UEFN Experience to the Next Level : March 20 @ 3 PM. Even more bout UEFN, the hobbyist version of UE included in Fortnite.
There are other Unreal events, but these are the ones likely to pique a gamer's curiosity. Unlike most GDC conferences, Unreal shares a lot of its event streams to the public, so you might be interested to dive in deeper if you like engine and tech chat. Full schedule is here:
Join us online or in person at GDC 2024
Tune in to the State of Unreal for the latest announcements from Epic and our partners, dive deep with our tech talks, and get inspired and informed with our sessions and learning theater.
www.unrealengine.com
UNITY
Unity has its own Unite events where it usually unveils major new iterations, and they unveiled their major Unity 6 update last November, which GAF talked about here and saw video of already. None of the scheduled events hit at anything awesome like the Enemies demo, not even a scheduled Ziva Dynamics showcase. Plus, Unity is in a spot of "rebuilding" after a rough 2023.
NVIDIA
Advances in Ray Tracing Developer Tools : March 20 @ 12:30 PM PDT. (Might not stream?) This will be developer-focused in talks about Shader Debugger and Shader Profiler tools, but maybe there will be eye candy here?
(Also see the GTC AI conference presentation that Jensen Huang did on the 18th of "announcements on AI advances that are shaping our future". Video and GAF Thread already available)
AMD
High Performance Rendering in Snowdrop Using AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 3 : March 20 @ 10:30 AM. (Didn't stream; might see clips or news reports later?) Massive's Snowdrop engine has been particularly strong at pulling out the power of current-gen consoles, with Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora being one of the most impressive and advanced games on the market, and Star Wars Outlaws stunning all the same in its trailer debut. Probably nothing new of Star Wars or other games will be in this showing, but given that both Snowdrop games and AMD FidelityFX are on all current platforms, this might be informative if you can catch it.
(Didn't stream, but AMD FSR 3.1 was announced and showcased there. No new Snowdrop engine features were shown, apparently it was instead about the work Massive did to make Avatar the first game with FSR3 support.)
Global Illumination With AMD FidelityFX Brixelizer : March 20 @ 2PM. (Might not stream?) Brixelizer is AMD's tech to optimize Global Illumination or Ambient Occlusion for RT-quality effects without murdering framerate via real-time sparse distance fields (SDFs). So, probably a techie talk, but maybe there'd be eye candy?
INDUSTRY
State Of The Game Industry: Devs Discuss Layoffs, Generative AI, And More : March 18th (Cormack12 already put together a helpful thread about this)
Nintendo has post-mort panels scheduled for Zelda: TotK and Super Mario Wonder, but neither of these will be public. Sony and Xbox and Meta panels on the schedule all look to be private and mostly of the deep-dive post-mort variety. One of these console manufacturers or engine developers may still drop a sudden announcement during GDC time which may have importance to players, but something like this wouldn't be on the schedule.
Last edited:
