INTERACTIVE MEDIA & GAME DEVELOPMENT
Background
Students are not expected to have any formal training in programming, game development or game creation. However, skills such as drawing, story creation, sound design, etc. will be of value. Those that do have some programming background will learn some new ways to approach software development.
Organization of the Course
One of the most often criticized elements of any course is the question: "was the course well-organized?". This is a difficult problem as no-one seems to have the same ideas about organization. So, like most instructors, I spend a lot of time worrying about the overall plan in light of the expected learning outcomes.
I have organized the content in 2 main components:
- Game concepts - based on the text
- 2D Game Authoring in Game Salad
We will be working through the course text: The Art of Game Design. This book by Jesse Schell is considered to be the best book on the topic. Schell is quite a famous game designer and a Professor at the Carnegie Melon University Entertainment Technology Center (CMU-ETC). This center is without question the leading game dev institution in the US.
I am hopeful that the combination of "how it all works" and Schell's insights will help all of you pursue game development in future.