Playing Narratives Grand Finale 2024

Playing Narratives 21.11.2024.
Time 18h-21h
Language English
Location Galerija Grafički Kolektiv, BG
Price Free
LOCATION

Playing Narratives Grand Finale 2024

The fourth generation of young creatives will present their original concepts for video games, after eight months of working together. Come and support them! We look forward to meeting the future creators of successful games in Serbia. Part of the program is a lecture by Nikola Damjanov from Nordeus.

The same as previous years, the Serbian Games Assocation and partners organized an eight-month program during which 35 young artists (who deal with creative writing, 2D and 3D art, sound design and animation) learned how to make video games. During these eight months, numerous lectures, practical exercises and visits to studios introduced them to the video game industry, and with the professional support of mentors, they developed concepts for their first projects.

This event is the very end of their teamwork. Seven teams will present their projects live to the jury, and the topic that served as the basis for the games is climate change. The expert jury that will choose the winning presentation consists of:

  • Nikola Damjanov, Lead Artist, Nordeus
  • Bojan Brankov, Engine Programmer, 3Lateral
  • Aleksandar Nedović, Associate Lead UI Artist
  • Marko Šovljanski, Lead 3D Artist, Mad Head Games

In addition to the presentations, visitors will have the opportunity to hear the lecture Procedure, not gymnastics! Anyone who has listened to Nikola Damjanov’s lectures until now knows that this is someone who, in addition to his knowledge, also nurtures his inexhaustible curiosity. This leads him on a path of constant optimization and testing of all tools imaginable.

To make one asset we need skill, to make 1000 we need a miracle! In such situations, procedural systems are your friend and savior. This lecture will show several practical examples of how such systems not only lubricate production, but also spark the imagination.

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This program would not be possible without the support of the RECONOMY* project, as well as dedicated industry partners – 3Lateral as part of Epic Games and program partner Center for the Promotion of Science (CPN). In addition to them, the Goethe-Institut and the French Institute in Serbia are participating in the project.

*RECONOMY is a regional inclusive and green economic development program of the Swedish Development Agency Sida, which is implemented by HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation, in cooperation with the organization Help – Hilfe zir Selbsthilfe e.V. and other partners in the countries of the Western Balkans and the Eastern Partnership.

Nikola Damjanov,
Lead Game Artist, Nordeus
About the lecturer

Nikola is a 3D generalist with over 10 years of diverse experience. He began his higher education as an engineer, but after a few years turned to interactive media. His first professional steps were making models, animations and VFX for music videos and movies. After that, he dabbled in architecture and product visualization for a while, but then switched to graphics and web design. Most of the time he made interactive art installations in parallel, but in the end he found his happy place – as a game artist.

For the past eight years, he has been actively improving his artistic skills, researching new tools and adopting them as quickly as possible. Nordeus helped him channel his passion, focus and broad skill set to the position he is in today. He moved through the company quite quickly, and currently works as a lead artist in the company. Apart from his daily activities, he cares about the bigger picture. Because of this, he is also heavily involved in recruiting, interviewing, mentoring and overall maintaining the company culture.

He actively participates in several game-art communities, writes blog posts and generally likes to share everything he knows, but also expects to learn something from everyone.

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