Ever wanted to design a game but didn’t know the best ways to do it? Well, this isn’t your panel. Designing games is as much about what NOT to do, as it is what you should do. In this panel, we'll review different mistakes new (and experienced) game designers make.
A panel discussion amoung longtime Gen Con attendees, plus audience reminiscences. Come and share your stories, favorite games played, et al. What happens at Gen Con, stays at Gen Con!
Join Guests of Honor Larry Elmore and Aaron Williams along with other artists working in the industry creating the visual personification of your favorite written characters. They will talk about the collaborative process working with writers, designers and producers to bring the imaginative into reality.
There are many challenges that face a game designer when converting a popular license (movie, book, television program, etc.) into a game. The first challenge is the ability to make a game that "feels" like the license it is paying homage to. The second challenge is making sure the game is directed toward the publisher's target audience. The greatest failure involves feeling like the license is simply "tacked on." This seminar will discuss these challenges and ways that designers overcome them.
How many years have you been running your gaming sessions with the same players?  Have things become routine, predictable, even old? Are your players less enamoured with playing than they use to? Then maybe it’s time to reinvent your campaign? With years of experience in game design and running their own worlds, our panelists will offer ideas about how to improve your existing campaigns and how to brief new life into old story lines.
Each game designer develops his or her own method of bringing an initial game design concept to life. Topics covered include concept development, prototype creation, playtesting sessions, pitching games to publishers, and doing everything that's necessary to help move the process forward. Panelists will also discuss ways for new game designers to approach publishers and get their games noticed.
There are varied opinions on what constitutes American game mechanics vs. European game mechanics. The next generation of game design involves marrying the two concepts: seizing upon what makes both types of games great and avoiding the pitfalls that can accompany each game style. This panel will discuss what elements are typical of American games and which are typical of European games, and how designers can attempt to marry the two comfortably together.
Explore the cosmology of Eberron with setting creator Keith Baker. Topics include the ways in which the planes impinge on the material world, how to use the planes in a low level campaign, and the nature of the planes themselves.
You’ve designed, play-tested and produced your game. Now it’s time to get it published. But what do you do? Where do you go? Who do you talk to? Come find out!
Robin Laws interviews important figures from Gen Con's history and talks about the how the show was born, survived and has become "the best four days in gaming".
Eberron creator and novelist Keith Baker talks about the Dreaming Dark trilogy, discussing the path of the novels and where the story may go in the future.
The Keeper of Ancient Gen Con Lore, Randy Porter, tells how he went from humble attendee to Gen Con’s official Historian. He will talk about how Gen Con went from a small gathering of wargamers to an event that is the best four days of gaming. The moves, the flame wars, and broken escaltors all the fun stuff of over 40 of gaming goodness.
The two key elements to every game are "theme" and "mechanics". Ironically, these elements are more often at war with each other during the game design process than in harmonious accord. Join IIGoH, Andrew Parks as he discusses the importance of theme in games, and whether a design should begin or end with its theme. He will also discuss different genres of games and how theme is more or less central to each genre.
Are you curious about the Lords of Dust? Love the Dreaming Dark, but just can't make them work in your game? Join Eberron designer Keith Baker for an informal discussion about the villains of Eberron - how they came to be and tricks for using them in your campaign.