Video Game Design/Developers

Hey guys?

Just checking in now that Everyone is either off spring break or about to be.

What are your students doing right now in your classes?


Right now I have three sections in two classes.

Game Dev 1 (Analog Game Design) - These students are doing a dry run test of a tabletop game project based on using Intellectual properties. They are chose from a menu of IPs and are subject to the IP holder, a giant media corporation named Bisney Co. who makes editorial decisions on their games. The actual project is due on Wednesday.

Game Dev 2 (Computer Graphics) - These students just wrapped up the BlenderGuru Donut Tutorial on Friday and are transitioning to making some low poly game assets of their choosing. Choosing from a menu of fantasy weapons, some terrain pieces and vehicles.

My seniors are working on their Capstone projects in Game Design 2. Some are making 2d games in Unity, some are making 3d games in Unity, and some are making VR experiences in Zoe Immersive. The Create with VR course was a total flop for me this year so no student wanted to make a VR experience in Unity. Mostly it's because we have M1 Macbook Pros and Unity and VR doesn't really work with them. THere is a work around that sometimes works, but most often hasn't. I couldn't get any technical assistance, and I spent dozens of hours troubleshooting, and got nowhere. For those who wanted to make something in VR, I have them making an experience in Zoe.

My juniors just finished Unit 5 of Create with Code and this week we are playing each other's personal projects, dividing up into teams, and spending the last 6 weeks of school trying to run sprints, and iterate a few times on their prototypes. We finished later this year than last year. I tried to go slower this year and supplement the Unity curriculum with additional exercises for students to reinforce concepts, but now we don't really have enough time to improve their prototypes as much as last year. 

I did take 131 students to the Game Developers Conference in March in San Francisco so that was fun.

Yeah that is the problem I feel in my capstone. Trying to find more supplementary stuff after create with code, while trying to not eat into their final projects.

Just getting back in the swing of things after a short spring break!

My GD1 kids are gearing up for the Final a Game Jam of their own design, and with only original assets designed by them. I think I will spend more time at the start of next year with them learning the drawing tools early, and like Wes Jefferies advised me this past month or so, starting designs with 2D.

My GD2 kids are completing a team design project, year long effort, designing a game that teaches a 5th grade science standard. This ties in with our other school efforts to work with 5th grades throughout the district.

Our final is actually playing other's games and voting on best (insert categories here).  

Really appreciate the notes and additions being volunteered by all our colleagues through this virtual community. Super proud that we finally have a place to share and communicate globally. Please feel free to share this community with anyone that might be interested.

Our district CTE Showcase is Thursday next week, and our high school VAPA showcase is the Friday after, so all of my classes are rushing to get their projects done.
The year 1 students are working in teams of 3-4 on a board game; the main focus is fine tuning mechanics and making sure all of the assets have finished artwork so it is visually appealing. The year 2 students are working individually on their own projects in Unity. Most of semester 1 was tutorials while semester 2 has been almost exclusively adding features to their projects. Results vary wildly. The best projects will get posted to the program's page on itch.io so you all can see them.