GDC2010: A Wonderful Blur, Part 2.

March 27, 2010 11:50 pm Sir Haxington Game Development

Like I said, the next day was bad.

Waking up happens like a shot at 8:30am, because God forbid I miss the latest and greatest on the four most important emotions of social gaming at 9am. My hotel roomie is already gone because he’s an early bird and didn’t stay out drinking all night. In fact, he doesn’t drink at all. Ever so wise. I hop in the shower without remembering how I got in there in the first place when it hits me: I’m probably still drunk.

No worries, I planned well the day before, so my stuff is already in order. I get changed, get my phone, my laptop, wallet, badge, triple check that I have my room key and head directly to the talk from my hotel. Luckily the Marriott is a block and a half away so, it only takes five minutes to walk there.

The sun hits me like a ton of bricks. My entire body is barely functional from last nights intake of beer. I pass by an outdoor coffee and tea stand and I strongly consider getting some Earl Gray, as is the usual morning tradition for yours truly. However, the thought of eating or drinking anything makes me physically ill so I pass by begrudgingly. I know I need it but my body just won’t accept any new guests at the moment. No vacancy.

Rushing to get to the talk, I find I’m late. I walk in as the speaker is getting started. I feel pretty bad about this, even worse when I rip open the velcro on my bag and pull out the laptop. “Well,” I think to myself, “its like ripping off a band-aid, at least it was fast….did I turn down the volume on the laptop?” The loud Windows start-up sound confirms that I in fact, did not.

Another few beeps from the computer has me scrabbling to turn down the volume which eventually happens after madly clicking in the system tray. Eventually I get Word open and start hammering away at whatever I’m listening to. Everyone must think I’m an asshole, but I feel pretty bad about all the ruckus.

Something about Fiero and Amaretto, I don’t know. Apparently mangos are social tokens and people like laughing in games. The talk is actually interesting, but I can barely follow. The pounding headache mixed with terrible and uncomfortable gas and a side if nausea is preventing me from taking any information. Then it gets hot. I think to myself “Is anyone else this hot or uncomfortable right now? I should take my coat off. No. If I move too much I’ll definitely throw up.”

As I take notes, I start recalling the night before. Eating a plate of oysters. Eating a burger as big as my head. Drinking a beer as big as my head. Drinking beer out of champagne glasses. Drinking a pitcher of beer. Drinking my buddies drink to convince him to go to another place to drink more. Drinking at the W. Oh God what happened at the W. I think I remember taking my boss up on some drinks too. I bet there were other drink unaccounted for.

I remember I have gum in my mouth and pull out a piece, hoping it’ll make me feel better. It doesn’t. Its only 9:30 and I feel like throwing up at every stimulation of my senses. “Just another half hour,” I think to myself. “Then I can eat something, drink some tea and feel better.” A few times I just stop typing and concentrate on not feeling like ass, which helps a little. The speaker is a bit monotone and the crowd is quiet which is oddly comforting. I wonder to myself how many other completely hung over game designers are in the room or am I the only one? Somehow I manage to take notes on everything the speaker is talking about. It’s the only thing keeping me from releasing bodily fluid from every orifice in a crowded room of game developers.

Q&A time rolls around and I bolt out of the room. Filling out a questionnaire about the talk? Not happening. The next talk is at 10:30 so I have a half hour or so. I end up getting an overpriced and tasteless sandwich which turns out to be perfect for a hangover. I choke it down with a large Earl Gray which tastes like dirt but hydrates nonetheless. I end up going outside in the chilly SF air and devouring my breakfast in a hidden away area outside of the convention center. Starting to feel better now, but I consider just going back to my hotel and skipping the next talk. Then I remember the company helped me with my GDC pass this year. Guilt rolls over me and I end up going to the next talk because dammit, someone might find these notes useful.

I end up texting some homies to find out what they are doing for lunch. We end up not meeting since everyone is going to different talks at different times, but one thing is for sure: everyone is alive but feels like shit. I end up going back to my hotel during lunch and taking a nap because if I don’t, I might die. I manage to lay down for about 1/2 hour which doesn’t help much.

Homies and I decide to go to a few talks later in the afternoon. Once we meet up, we “Start feeling like Humans again.” One of my buddies always reminds himself that “If I can just make it to like 1 or 2 the next day, everything will be juuuust fine.” He’s right. The light at the end of the tunnel is finally visible and the worst part of the day is over. I swear I won’t drink as much tonight, that’s for sure!

A good chunk of the day is spent on other talks, meeting people you’ve never met before and trying to figure out where the parties are at and who is going to which ones. The Microsoft party is coveted, but heavily restricted on who can go. So restricted, that MS employees are actually not on the list necessarily. You see, I already work for Microsoft, so why spend money on me to convince me to work there? The Valve party is pretty popular, but hard to get invites for. Out group was putting on a mixer of our own, so I figure maybe I’ll just go to that instead.

But wait, someone I know knows a guy who is invited to the MS party but doesn’t want to go! We convince him to give me his invite but as he retrieves it, the MS people tell him they’ll be IDing at the door. I explain that “No, they just card you at the door, they’re not going to check your name. They just did that.” The guy I’m about to get my pass from is not familiar with this concept and almost doesn’t give me the party pass. Luckily, one of my bros steps in. “Well, you’re not going anyway, just give him the pass just in case.” Finally he gives in. This happens type of thing happens every year, by the way. I’m used to it.

The best part is when you have to explain to everyone that you might not be able to go to the MS party even though you work there. In your mind, this makes total sense but everyone else thinks you and the company are crazy. I personally don’t mind this process and to be fair, our management usually comes though with passes at the last second anyway so I end up with extra passes every GDC, but it always comes down to the wire and it’s tough to explain to people.

After more talks and once everyone is feeling much, much better but not really good, we decide to get dinner. We end up at the 4th Street Bar and Grill, order up some wings, fish and chips, chicken strips, Philly cheese steaks, and garlic fries. Basically, anything and everything that is greasy because that makes you feel soooooo good after a rough hangover. I avoid alcohol altogether while other people start ordering up beers. How anyone can be drinking again is beyond me.

I end up throwing a $20 down and ducking out of dinner early. I had to get to our mixer because there promises to be some great talent showing up. Turns out we have an open bar at the mixer, and of course, I oblige. I keep a steady pace though because I feel crappy and I don’t want to blow out my liver. But man, one drink really takes that last bit of the hangover away. So why not another? Or another?

The mixer ends in a flash and you’ve just met a ton of people, traded cards with them all, and have a stack of cards from people whose names you’d forget whether or not you had been drinking because you are terrible with names. Of course, it’s time for the MS party now, which is where the fun really begins and last night and your next morning promise to be a bit of a repeat.

You get on the bus which takes you to the party and one of the Bungie employees gets on the bus too. You realize you just saw him gave a talk a few hours prior and you compliment him on the job well done. You find out he put the talk together in a few hours before the session and is used to public speaking and that it was fairly easy for him. You find out the Halo 1 pistol wasn’t his idea, but his boss came in and hacked files without anyone knowing right before the game shipped.

Then you let him know you work for 343 Industries which doesn’t change his demeanor. Another 343 co-worker starts talking to him as you fade out and realize that you’re in for another night of loud music, rounds of shots, some of the best finger food you’ve ever had, free Crown and Cokes and a great feeling of being around your friends.

Of course you always tip at the bar, even when you get free drinks. At least a buck.  The most you’ll drink it what, 6? 7? That’s an extreme case and $6-7 for free drinks is a small price to pay and keeps the bartenders on your side for the evening.

After the party, you end up at, you guessed it, the W. Yes, you end up doing things which are caught on camera and hope never appear on Facebook. You end up paying a hobo $8 and he runs off and eats shit on the cold hard pavement from his excitement of getting paid. You’re feeling so empowered you start going up to people in mid conversation, introducing yourself and you find out they are super happy to talk to you. You meet awesome people you otherwise would not have met if you didn’t have liquid courage streaming through your veins. You’re genuinely interested in what they have to say, even you drank quite a bit this evening.

Again, it all ends in with horrible florescent lighting washing over everyone. The music gets shut off which somehow makes it seem louder, and you realize it’s 2:30, again, and you have morning talks you wanted to attend, again. The thought of being hungover seems like such a far fetched thought as you feel so damn good right now.

Thursday night is almost at an end. You walk one of your buddies back to her hotel, then you walk alone, back to the Marriott and crash hard.

Before you fall asleep, you remember that you’ll be working at the MS career booth tomorrow, talking to the general public about game design for the first time in your life, and that at one point earlier in the day, you were very excited about this event.

You have no idea that tomorrow will be worse than today.