Welcome to the Video Game Design class wiki page. We will use this page in class to link to various resources. In addition, some of the class assignments will be posted here if you are interested in working on them at home. Material will be posted as we cover it and the most recent will be at the top. For your reference, here is the class syllabus.
Love playing video games? Do you have an idea for the next great game? In Video Game design you’ll learn the basics of computer programming while exploring the tools and technology used to create various types of computer games including 2D, 3D, mobile, RPG, and even Kinect (body-controlled) games. We will experience the complex process of game creation from start to finish. In addition, we will explore the art of video game design. What makes a game fun? How do you make a game challenging but not impossibly frustrating? What is it that makes a blockbuster game? No programming knowledge is required for the course; you will learn as you go.
> Want to learn more about programming a computer? Check out the Learn to Program page.
Interested in Video Game Design as a Career?
Most programmers in the industry have a college degree in computer science or related field. There are some exceptions, but these lucky few have found some other way to get the hiring companies attention (like programming an award winning game). Just being good at using a computer isn't enough. You'll want to plan on college.
But which college? Here are some ideas:
Top 10 Gaming Schools
Top 12 Universities and Certificate Programs in Games Programming (UT Austin is #1)
U.S. Colleges, Universities, Art and Trade Schools Offering Video Game Courses, Certificates and Degree Programs
Video Game Design Schools - This site has general information as well on careers in game design
Best ONLINE Video Game Design Schools by Value - This list is exclusively online classes
CLASS UNITS:
Video Game Reviews
In order to be able to create great games, you've got to understand what makes a good game good and a bad game bad. The only way to do this is to play some games. Pick three online (web-based games) and, after playing them, write a separate review for each game. The review doesn't have to be long, but it should be specific.
> To enter reviews go to the Video Game Review page.
> To view the list of reviewed games, open the List of Video Game Reviews.
Sites to Find Games to Review
Understanding Games
Understanding Games is series of four games explaining the basic concepts of video games. The tutorial-style episodes deal with rules, motivation, learning and identification in video games. The player is guided through each episode by the narrators Bob and Bub, who explain core concepts of games to the player. The player can experience these concepts directly while playing the integrated games.
Episode 1 - Rules
Episode 2 - Motivation
Episode 3 - Learning
Episode 4 - Identification
GameStar Mechanic
We use Gamestar Mechanic to learn the basics of game development as well as learn more about the 5 elements of video game development. In Gamestar Mechanic, you go on Quests that power up your game design skills and let you earn items you can use to make your own games. You make original games with a powerful, easy-to-use design tool and a library of hundreds of sprites. You can even publish your games and connect with a community of over 250,000 designers whose games have been played over 5 million times.
Kodu
Kodu Game Lab is for building games! Kodu is a programming environment designed by Microsoft for Windows and the Xbox 360. Kodu enables you to build games using a series of visual elements in a rich 3D environment, without having to learn a single line of code.
For more information, including our class assignments and demo code, see the our Kodu page.
Scratch
Scratch is a programming language that makes it easy to create your own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art -- and share your creations on the web. As young people create and share Scratch projects, they learn important mathematical and computational ideas, while also learning to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively.
For more information, including our class assignments and demo projects, see the our Scratch page.
MIT App Inventor
App Inventor is a visual, drag-and-drop tool for building mobile apps on the Android platform. You design the user interface (the visual appearance) of an app using a web-based graphical user interface (GUI) builder, then you specify the app’s behavior by piecing together “blocks” as if you were working on a puzzle. App Inventor dramatically lowers the barriers to creating apps for Android phones and devices.
For more information, including our class assignments and demo projects, see the our App Inventor page.
Other Game Building Engines
In addition to the above class projects, we will explore several different game development engines as time permits. Some may include (all/most are free to use or download):
- 001 Game Creator - Develop RPG, Tower Defense, and 2D platformers
- Stencyl - Stencyl helps you create iOS and Flash games in a flash with or without coding.
- GameMaker - Another commericial-quality game creation tool
For a complete list, see the Video Game Builders page
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