...and you thought 3 assignments per semester was tough!
Think that's a lot of work? Try creating 50 games in one semester!
This is actually a very interesting concept, which started as the Experimental Gameplay Project, a student-initiated project at the Entertainment Technology Center at CMU. Hmm, perhaps something to try for Gaming Culture II? Now I just have to figure out how to do this without requiring everyone to know programming...
This is actually a very interesting concept, which started as the Experimental Gameplay Project, a student-initiated project at the Entertainment Technology Center at CMU. Hmm, perhaps something to try for Gaming Culture II? Now I just have to figure out how to do this without requiring everyone to know programming...
posted by alex at 9:02 PM
7 Comments:
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
hehe sorry abt the first comment.. After a quick glance through the article, I believe the 50 games are short simple games...
Maybe we can have a full semster to brain storm for the game ideas and only fully develop on the few better game ideas? In fact since there are SoC students taking.. maybe we can assign groups such that each group can at least have someone who knows programming? Probably restrict them to Flash platform since its easier to pick up and learn, plus it is very easy to spread over the internet.
Didn't see your other comment before you deleted it, so I'll just have to use my imagination... :P
You're right, they're actually really short, simple games - the idea is to focus on innovative gameplay concepts, and not to get hung up on implementation.
Good idea about brainstorming. Another thought I had is to allow groups to choose to either build a game using Flash, or to do a mod, depending on the group composition.
Anyway, this is for next semester, so lots of time to think about it. If anyone else has any ideas about what they'd like to see in Gaming Culture II, please feel free to let me know! :)
hi alex i did my feedback or blog on this article rather than the questions alright right? you said the main objective is to make us speak out and comments for our blog.
How to Prototype a Game in Under 7 Days
It occurs to me that game designers need to be aware of the whole development process, and not just be pure gameplay design-specialists, so to speak. Thus, maybe Gaming Culture II could involve introductory courses to the other aspects of game development, including:
- Management (studies of game development life cycles, game industry, , business models, game project management, etc.),
- Graphics (overview of 2D and 3D art and graphic-creation programs, basic terminology and system requirements. ie. "What is a polygon, and why are they important?")
- Programming (sort of a dumbed-down version of the CS module. ie. "Programming Knowledge and Limits for Game Designers" or "How to Communicate Your Vision to Code Monkeys") Basics of pseudo-code and algorithms.
- Writing (when is writing needed for a game, how to design an interactive narrative, introduction to the basic tools of writing drama into games, the interplay between story and game, etc.)
- Sound/Music (what sort of file storage formats are available, which is better for what types of games and why, how to create game music and sound FX, principles of voice-acting, etc.)
In other words, while Gaming Culture I introduces us to the world of Game Design (ie. "How to create a good idea for a game"), Gaming Culture II introduces us to the wider world of Game Development (ie. "How to turn your idea into reality")
-Joshua-
Wah, Joshua, you been hacking my computer and reading the module proposal is it? :P
Seriously, Game Design II (I've requested that the "culture" be replaced with "design") as proposed will focus on the development process, project management, and designing and building a digital game. Like you said, these are important parts of a game designer's education.
For a game designer, its also important to have some understanding of art, sound, and music, but those are very specialized areas which other places, such as the various polytechnics, are teaching. So I'll probably try to touch on the issues that a designer needs to be aware of, such as the impact on the design and the production schedule, but not on the actual skills and techniques.
Programming is another big area to deal with... for this, CNM students should take NM2217 Creating Interactive Media... :P
Finally, for storytelling and writing, we're proposing an Interactive Storytelling module for next year, which will expand on what we talked about in class this week.
So lots of fun modules to take next year! (and lots of new teaching material to create...)
Hah. Hacking would have been easier than learning what I had to - the hard way, via experience. :)
I'm finally starting to give basic lessons in game design to my fellow developers. :) I can sympathise with you now. It's so difficult to talk with people about game design principles when there's no common vocabulary at first, and you have to teach them everything. :P
-Joshua-
Post a Comment
<< Home