Next-gen rendering, Pixar and Total War talks added to GDC 2013

A trio of new talks added to the GDC 2013 lineup include a peek at next-generation rendering techniques, as well as presentations by Pixar and the Creative Assembly.

Activision Blizzard's Jorge Jimenez will give a session in the Programming stream called Photorealistic Eyes Rendering and Deformation. During the talk, Jimenez will debut what has been described as the first steps towards photo-realistic characters for next-generation hardware.

Jimenez believes he can "overcome the uncanny valley with next-gen run-time techniques and good artistic direction" and will demonstrate "high-quality next-generation shading driven with a plausible game rig". It will also show techniques currently in use at Activision Blizzard.

Pixar's Matthew Luhn will drop in on the Design track to talk about storytelling in a session entitled The 5 Key Plot Points to Creating a Great Story. Having worked on Up and Monsters Inc, Luhn has a lot to share, and the session will include workshop activities.

Meanwhile, The Creative Assembly's James Russell is on board to talk the nitty-gritties of game design in Designing Grand Strategy: Making the Mechanics of Total War. He'lll discuss "realism, simulation versus game rules, mystery versus clarity, decisions and counterpoint, gameplay depth versus micromanagement, gameplay system dynamics, and more".

GDC 2013 takes place from March 27 through 29 in San Francisco.