Toolsmiths GDC 2022 Guide

MTuner

Posted on 18 March 2022 by Victor Stepanov

There are around 600+ sessions/tutorials/events at GDC 2022, finding the sessions that a tools developer would be interested in takes time. Below you will find a list of sessions that can be used as a guide for your tools developer GDC 2022 experience, whether you plan on attending or you will be viewing after the fact.

Note: Some talks that are mentioned here are not 100% tool-centered, but in any case, can provide inspiration and a different perspective. Understanding how the users of our tools work is paramount for the success of our tools.

If you don’t have a lot of time or just want Game Dev Tool-centered sessions - don’t miss the Tools Summit, Tools Roundtables, and Tools Design Roundtables. These sessions are organized by Geoff Evans and David Lightbown to bring you the best Tool Centered Talks and Discussions from experts around the industry.

Key Words & Key Roles

I have tried to make navigating this list easier by providing helper labels that will hint what Tool Developer roles might be interested in this session. Just use the find feature of your web browser and type one of the following key terms.

Here is the list of roles that you can use to search:

DCC Tool Dev
Tool UX/UI Designer
Pipeline Dev
Build
Tool Lead
Dev Support/Production Engineer
Tools QA

Furthermore, you can search the list by using the following keywords:

Programming
UX
Workflows
Pipeline
VFX
Visual Arts
Production

Design
AI
Procedural
Machine Learning
Visual Arts

How to use this list

If you are going to GDC, you can follow the links in the list below to create a schedule for yourself. Alternatively, if you already have a plan, you can check and make sure you don’t miss out on anything you would enjoy.
If you are not going, you can still look forward to watching sessions that you want to see in the GDC Vault.

Sessions marked with Toolsmiths icon - point to sessions that you should consider going to because you are 100% guaranteed to find insight as a Tools Developer.

I’m sure that you can find a session that will inspire you to make something great!

Tools Summit Day (Full Day)

Tools Summit: Efficiently Shuffling Loads of Data from Place to Place

Programming
Tools Summit
Postmortem

Build
DCC Tool Dev
Dev Support/Production Engineer
Tool Lead
Tools QA

Tools Summit: Ubisoft Connect: Building User-Centered Frameworks for Internal Tools

Programming
Tools Summit

DCC Tool Dev

Tools Summit: File System Tricks for Safe Incremental Builds

Pipeline
Programming
Tools Summit

Pipeline Dev
Build
DCC Tool Dev

Tools Summit: Help Game Designers Analyze Data: How to Develop an Online Pivot Table Tool

Programming
Tools Summit

DCC Tool Dev

Tools Summit: An Easy-to-Use Cutscenes Preview Tool with Low Resources

Programming
Tools Summit

DCC Tool Dev

Tools Summit: Immutable Data for Editors for ‘EVE Echoes’

Programming
Tools Summit

DCC Tool Dev

Roundtables

Tools Roundtable Day 1: Workflow

Pipeline
Workflows
Programming
UX

Tool UX/UI Designer
Pipeline Dev
Dev Support/Production Engineer
Tool Lead
Build
DCC Tool Dev

Tools Roundtable Day 2: Assets

Pipeline
Programming

Pipeline Dev
Build
DCC Tool Dev

Tools Roundtable Day 3: Pipeline

Pipeline
Programming

Pipeline Dev
Build
DCC Tool Dev

Tools Design Roundtables Day 1: Design

Programming
Design
Workflows
Programming
UX

Tool UX/UI Designer
Dev Support/Production Engineer
Tool Lead
DCC Tool Dev

Tools Design Roundtables Day 2: Production

Programming
Design
Workflows
Programming
UX

Tool UX/UI Designer
Tool Lead
Dev Support/Production Engineer
DCC Tool Dev

Technical Artist Roundtable Day 1

Programming
Workflows
UX
Pipeline
Visual Arts

Tool UX/UI Designer
Tool Lead
Dev Support/Production Engineer
Pipeline Dev
DCC Tool Dev

Technical Artist Roundtable Day 2

Programming
Workflows
UX
Pipeline
Visual Arts

Tool UX/UI Designer
Tool Lead
Dev Support/Production Engineer
Pipeline Dev
DCC Tool Dev

Technical Artist Roundtable Day 3

Programming
Workflows
UX
Pipeline
Visual Arts

Tool UX/UI Designer
Tool Lead
Dev Support/Production Engineer
Pipeline Dev
DCC Tool Dev

Automated Testing Roundtable Day 1: Process

Workflows
Programming
QA
UX

Build
DCC Tool Dev
Dev Support/Production Engineer
Tool Lead
Tools QA

Automated Testing Roundtable Day 2: Legacy

Programming
QA

Build
Dev Support/Production Engineer
Tools QA

Automated Testing Roundtable Day 3: Implementation

Programming
QA

Build
Dev Support/Production Engineer
Tools QA

Game Audio Programming Roundtable Day 1

Programming
Programming
Audio

DCC Tool Dev

Visual Effects Roundtable Day 1

Programming
Visual Arts

DCC Tool Dev

Visual Effects Roundtable Day 2: Artistic Lens

Programming
Visual Arts

Tool UX/UI Designer
DCC Tool Dev

Visual Effects Roundtable Day 3: Technical Lens

Programming
Visual Arts

DCC Tool Dev

Version Control & Files

Virtual Sync: Terabytes on Demand

Programming

Build
Tool Lead
Dev Support/Production Engineer
Pipeline Dev
DCC Tool Dev

Version Control for Game Developers (Presented by Unity)

UX
Workflows
Programming
Production & Team Management

Build
Tool Lead
Dev Support/Production Engineer
DCC Tool Dev

Stop Wasting Your Game Art! (Presented by Perforce Software)

UX
Workflows
Production & Team Management

Build
Tool Lead
Dev Support/Production Engineer
DCC Tool Dev

Remaster

Resurrecting a Classic: Bringing ‘Diablo II’ into the 3rd Dimension

Programming
Visual Arts
Programming

DCC Tool Dev

Psychonauts 2: Bringing Classic Characters into the Modern Era (Presented by Adobe)

Pipeline
Visual Arts

Pipeline Dev
DCC Tool Dev

Programming

Advanced Graphics Summit: Designing the Terrain System of ‘Flight Simulator’: Representing the Earth

Procedural
Advanced Graphics Summit

Pipeline Dev
DCC Tool Dev

Game Narrative Summit: Narrative Tools as Powerful as ‘Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy’s’

Game Narrative Summit
Programming
Procedural
Pipeline
QA

Tool Lead
DCC Tool Dev
Pipeline Dev
Tools QA

Figuring Out How Things Work in an Unfamiliar Codebase

Programming

Tool Lead
Pipeline Dev
DCC Tool Dev

UX

UX Summit: It’s Not Just About Design: Universal Approaches to Designing in a Collaborative Environment

UX Summit
Programming

Tool UX/UI Designer
Tool Lead
DCC Tool Dev

Technical Art

Building the World of ‘The Ascent’

Programming
Workflows
UX
Pipeline
Visual Arts

Pipeline Dev
Tool Lead
Build
DCC Tool Dev

Technical Artist Summit: Building ‘Zeta Halo’: Scaling Content Creation for the Largest ‘Halo’ Ever

Pipeline
Programming
Technical Artist Summit

Pipeline Dev
Build
DCC Tool Dev

Machine Learning

AI Summit: ‘Age of Empires IV’: Machine Learning Trials and Tribulations

Machine Learning
Programming
AI Summit

Pipeline Dev
Tool Lead
DCC Tool Dev

Machine Learning Summit: 4 Years of Bringing Characters to Life with Computer Brains

Machine Learning Summit

Pipeline Dev
Tool Lead
DCC Tool Dev

Machine Learning Summit: Walk Lizzie, Walk! Emergent Physics-Based Animation through Reinforcement Learning

Machine Learning Summit

Pipeline Dev
Tool Lead
DCC Tool Dev

Machine Learning Summit: It’s Complicated: Getting ML inside a AAA Engine

Pipeline
Machine Learning Summit
Programming

Pipeline Dev
Tool Lead
DCC Tool Dev

Machine Learning Summit

Pipeline Dev
Tool Lead
DCC Tool Dev

Math In Game Development Summit: Turning Patterns and Fractals: Program Generation of Natural Textures

Procedural
Machine Learning
Programming
Math In Game Development Summit

Pipeline Dev
Tool Lead
DCC Tool Dev

Machine Learning Summit: AI Animator : A Real Time Motion Completion System

Machine Learning Summit
Procedural

Pipeline Dev
Tool Lead
DCC Tool Dev

Game Level Generation using AI Bot (Presented by Tencent AI Lab)

Procedural
Machine Learning
Programming

Tool Lead
DCC Tool Dev

Application of AI Technology and Organizational Design to Improve Game Quality and Productivity

Production & Team Management
Programming
Machine Learning

Tool UX/UI Designer
Tool Lead
DCC Tool Dev

Independent Games Summit: Choose Your Own Misadventure: AI-Powered Futures for Game Design

Independent Games Summit
Programming

Pipeline Dev
Tool Lead
Tool UX/UI Designer
DCC Tool Dev

Open Source

Open Source Game Development Summit: Understanding the Godot Engine Architecture and Development Process

Open Source Game Development Summit

Pipeline Dev
Tool Lead
DCC Tool Dev
Build

Open Source Game Development Summit: Open Source Strategy for Game Studios

Open Source Game Development Summit
Programming

Pipeline Dev
Tool Lead
DCC Tool Dev
Build

Open Source Game Development Summit: Being Successful with Open Source in Game Development

Open Source Game Development Summit
Pipeline

Pipeline Dev
Tool Lead
DCC Tool Dev
Build

Moving to Open: Benefits and Challenges Roundtable (Presented by the IGDA)

Pipeline
Advocacy
Programming

Pipeline Dev
Tool Lead
DCC Tool Dev
Build

Math

Math In Game Development Summit: Visualizing Math

Pipeline
Programming
Math In Game Development Summit

Pipeline Dev
DCC Tool Dev

Math In Game Development Summit: Practical Automation: A Guide to Random Game Content Generation

Procedural
Programming
QA
Math In Game Development Summit

Pipeline Dev
DCC Tool Dev

Procedural

Never The Same Twice: Procedural World Handling in ‘Returnal’

Procedural
Programming

Tool Lead
DCC Tool Dev

Procedural Primer for Artists (Presented by Houdini)

Programming
Procedural
Workflows
UX
Pipeline
Visual Arts

Tool Lead
Pipeline Dev
DCC Tool Dev

Urban Worlds: A New Procedural Modeler (Presented by Threedee.io)

Programming
Procedural
Workflows
UX
Pipeline
Visual Arts

Tool Lead
Pipeline Dev
DCC Tool Dev

Procedural Workflows in Production (Presented by Houdini)

UX
Workflows
Programming
Production & Team Management

Tool Lead
DCC Tool Dev

Pipeline

Creating the World of ‘Riders Republic’: A Declarative Pipeline

Procedural
Visual Arts
Programming
Workflows
UX
Pipeline

Build
Tool Lead
Pipeline Dev
DCC Tool Dev

Opportunities for Universal Scene Description (USD) in Game Development (Presented by NVIDIA)

Pipeline
Production & Team Management

Pipeline Dev
Tool Lead
DCC Tool Dev

Panel: Experimenting with USD in Game Pipelines (Presented by Autodesk)

Pipeline
Visual Arts

Pipeline Dev
Tool Lead
DCC Tool Dev

AI-enhanced content authoring

AI Summit: Innovations in Procedural Narrative

AI Summit

Tool Lead
DCC Tool Dev
Tool UX/UI Designer

AI Teaching: The Application of Wukong Human-AI Collaboration Technology in MOBA Games (Presented by Tencent AI Lab)

Procedural
Programming
QA

Tool Lead
DCC Tool Dev
Tool UX/UI Designer

AI

Procedural
Programming
AI Summit

DCC Tool Dev

Audio

The Soundscapes of Yara: Audio Innovation and Representation in ‘Far Cry 6’

Audio

Pipeline Dev
DCC Tool Dev

Benefits of a Customized Reaper Pipeline for Dialogue at Naughty Dog

Pipeline
Audio
Production & Team Management
Programming

Pipeline Dev
Build
DCC Tool Dev

Animation

Animation Summit: Microtalks 2022

Programming
Animation Summit

DCC Tool Dev

Visual Arts

Evolving the ‘Horizon’ Series: Animating Believable Robots and Characters

Programming
Workflows
UX
QA
Visual Arts

Pipeline Dev
Tool UX/UI Designer
DCC Tool Dev

Building Machines for a Better Future in ‘Horizon’

Visual Arts
Production & Team Management
Pipeline

Pipeline Dev
Tool UX/UI Designer
DCC Tool Dev

Recalibrating Our Limits: Lighting on ‘Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart’

Visual Arts
Production & Team Management
Workflows
Pipeline
UX

Pipeline Dev
Tool UX/UI Designer
DCC Tool Dev

The Art of ‘Sable’: Imperfection, Limitation and Worldbuilding through Visual Design

Programming
Visual Arts
Design

Pipeline Dev
Tool UX/UI Designer
DCC Tool Dev

Gearing Up Millions of Armor Combinations in ‘Dauntless’

Pipeline
Visual Arts
Programming
Programming
QA

Pipeline Dev
Tool UX/UI Designer
DCC Tool Dev

Postmortem

Classic Game Postmortem: ‘Wolfenstein 3D’ (Achtung!)

Design
Postmortem

Tool UX/UI Designer
Tool Lead
DCC Tool Dev

Classic Game Postmortem: ‘Q-bert’

Design
Programming
Postmortem

Tool UX/UI Designer
DCC Tool Dev
Tool Lead

Production

Emotion Based Creation Pipeline

Production & Team Management
Design
Pipeline
Programming

Pipeline Dev
Build
Tool Lead
DCC Tool Dev

The Many Challenges of Making ‘Baldur’s Gate 3’

Pipeline
Programming
Production & Team Management

Pipeline Dev
Build
DCC Tool Dev

Our remote future: Game creation and collaboration with AWS (Presented by Amazon Web Services)

Pipeline
Programming
Production & Team Management

Build
Tool UX/UI Designer
Pipeline Dev
DCC Tool Dev

Leadership

Production Essentials Summit: Congratulations You’ve Become a Lead: Now What?

Production Essentials Summit

Tool Lead
Dev Support/Production Engineer

Leaders Working at the Heart of the Team 2022

Production & Team Management

Tool Lead
Dev Support/Production Engineer

Miscellaneous

Live Long and Render!

Career & Studio Development
Pipeline

Pipeline Dev
DCC Tool Dev
Build

Educators Summit: Tools Dev in Game Edu

Educators Summit
Programming

Tool Lead
Pipeline Dev
DCC Tool Dev
Build

Third-party DCC Tools

Adobe Substance 3D Keynote (Presented by Adobe)

Programming
Visual Arts

Tool Lead
Pipeline Dev
DCC Tool Dev

Accelerating Creative Workflows with Epic Games (Presented by Autodesk)

Programming
Workflows
UX
Visual Arts

Tool UX/UI Designer
Tool Lead
Pipeline Dev
DCC Tool Dev

SideFX Labs 2021-2022 | Servicing Next-Gen Development (Presented by Houdini)

Pipeline
Programming

Tool UX/UI Designer
Tool Lead
Pipeline Dev
DCC Tool Dev

DOTS Authoring and Debugging Workflows in the Unity Editor (Presented by Unity)

Workflows
Programming
UX

Tool Lead
Pipeline Dev
DCC Tool Dev

Unity Art Tools Roadmap: A New Era of Creativity (Presented by Unity)

Programming

Tool UX/UI Designer
Pipeline Dev
DCC Tool Dev

Making Game Production Tools with Bifrost (Presented by Autodesk)

Programming
Workflows
UX
Pipeline
Visual Arts

Tool UX/UI Designer
Tool Lead
Pipeline Dev
DCC Tool Dev

GDC 15