In this GDC 2018 session, Hinterland Games' Raphael van Lierop shares hard-won lessons about the community-informed development of The Long Dark, discussing what principles define a successful sandbox gameplay experience.

Van Lierop also goes into the challenges of wrapping a story mode around the core of a popular survival sandbox game, seeking to answer if it's possible to successfully marry a linear, authored narrative experience to a sandbox open-world game.

Developers interested in how Van Lierop worked with the community to attach a narrative to The Long Dark may appreciate that they can now watch the talk for free over on the official GDC YouTube channel!

About the GDC Vault

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its new YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.

Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC, GDC Europe, and GDC Next already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.

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