Atom Feed
GDC07: Curriculum Framework Roundtables
In working lunch I, guided by Magy Seif El-Nasr, participants were divided into groups led by SIG representatives to discuss and revise the current framework. The goal is to recommend revisions to the 2003 Curriculum Framework looking for problems: holes, insufficient detail, ambiguity and repetition.
Reports from each group are included as Comments:
Critical Game Studies, led by Tim Langdell
Game Production: Programming, led by Tom Carbone
Game Production: Design, led by Tim Roden
Game Production: Visual/Audio Design, led by Joseph Arnayosi
Game Production: Management/Development Process, led by Christopher Erhardt
Business of Gaming, led by Kevin O'Gorman
Game Production: Writing and Interactive Storytelling, led by Ron Weaver
Game Production: Technical Art, led by Laurie Torelli
---
Beth A. Dillon
Reports from each group are included as Comments:
Critical Game Studies, led by Tim Langdell
Game Production: Programming, led by Tom Carbone
Game Production: Design, led by Tim Roden
Game Production: Visual/Audio Design, led by Joseph Arnayosi
Game Production: Management/Development Process, led by Christopher Erhardt
Business of Gaming, led by Kevin O'Gorman
Game Production: Writing and Interactive Storytelling, led by Ron Weaver
Game Production: Technical Art, led by Laurie Torelli
---
Beth A. Dillon
6 Comments:
Notes from Game Production: Management/Development Process, led by Christopher Erhardt
Barbara Truman- University of Central Florida
Derric Clark – University of Advancing Technology
Peter Raad – Guildhall at SMU
Kathleen Harmeyer – University of Baltimore
David Schwartz GDIAC at Cornell
Overall this roundtable generated significant interest and enthusiasm in the establishment of standards and practices as to what are the right (and wrong) levels of management that should be applied to projects. The initial conversation centered around each specific schools approach to student product team formation.
Kathleen pointed out how there are two different project courses at her location: one at the sophomore level and one at the senior level. The senior year teams are allowed to pick their teams (peer based) while the sophomores are assigned to teams. One philosophy they subscribe to is ‘Don’t show me anything that is broken.’.
Derric mentioned how while they currently have mod based product development in the curricula teams are built by interview so it is entirely possible for freshmen and seniors to co-exist on the same teams. They also subscribe to a ‘finished’ projects charter. Derric found, however, that the on line courses with a 5 week length demonstrated less success at ‘finishing’ than the 15 week.
Dave stated that all courses started as independent projects and therefore it helped foster a ‘community’ format since individuals would work together for multiple semesters.
Barbera mentioned how she was considering a ‘factory’ based environment within the university whereby the college of game development would be able to balance the challenge of ‘Federal and State’; or global university needs and also published product needs.
Peter mentioned how having students feed into their program from the undergraduate art and science tracks allowed for more of a focus on education and generated more mature students who were focused and that a progression of team experiences allowed for longer projects to have larger teams.
Out of this base significant questions arose as to what the needs from the members of this roundtable were for assistance in determining how to improve and enhance student project management. One request was for the development of a good working model where concept was allowed with product. Most student projects were too ambitious because the students were trying to build the games they liked to play and student teams would be hard pressed to generate AAA titles within the constraints of an academic setting. Since the industry attracts introverts it is critical that management courses help the students practice their abilities to become more effective presenters and speakers.
Specific questions that need to be answered that came out of this roundtable:
1- Could there be a job board that would allow for cooperative student projects virtually done?
2- What is too little, and what is too much, training in scheduling and management?
3- How to keep student expectations in line with an educational process?
4- Should surveys be part of the curriculum framework?
Notes from Business In Gaming
led by Kevin O'Gorman (American InterContinental University)
Participants:
Sukumar Subramanian -- Sanrasoft Ltd., India
Anucha Aribarg -- Rangsit University, Thailand
Alvin Tang -- Singapore Polytechnic, SMIT, Singapore
Oren Ross -- NYU-ITP, Student, USA
Perhaps not the most glamorous of sessions, we did reach a quorum of participants and had a spirited discussion about how to incorporate business practices and knowledge into game curriculum.
The first ground rule we agreed on (very easily) was that the curriculum has to recognize that while local industry is subject to national and local government regulation but that games need to be a-national – when you are lucky they sell globally. So your instruction has to take that into account. Think global.
There are two curriculum flavors to be kept in mind:
• Business for Game Development Students
• Game Development for Business Students
There is also a split at Undergraduate vs. Graduate level study.
There are also concentrations and specializations to consider. Many business schools offer programs of study in Entertainment, Film and Television, etc. Is a concentration in the Digital Game business appropriate here? We think so.
Topics to be covered for Game Developers:
• Business and Law
• Marketing
• Management and Operations
• HR/Employee Management
• Vocabulary/best practices/standards
Key areas to teach Game Students (the bare minimum)
• Market Research
o Use case studies a la HBS
• Organizational Management
o Running a business
• Distribution Chain
o Developers and publishers
Topics to be covered for Business People:
• Art Pipeline
• Programming Environment
• Vocabulary/best practices/standards
We propped up Will Wright and Shigeru Miyamoto as exemplars of the Renaissance skills a modern developer needs to have.
We agreed that Nick Fortugno’s statement about how games best teach processes applies here, too. We should give them a flavor of what is out there (show process) so that the students can become aware of how much they don’t know and will go out and gain the knowledge in the sectors they are most interested in.
Notes from Writing & Interactive Storytelling, led by Ron Weaver - Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy
Attendees:
Susan Gold - Sierra Nevada College
Steve Jacobs - RIT
Laura Silva - Art Center at Pasadena
Judy Perhamus - Riverside Community College
This roundtable focused on potential assignments and lecture topics to cover interactive narrative in games. Some assignment suggestions included:
> Students evaluate the same game, go away for a while, then come together again to explain what the story was. This helps demonstrate which parts of the story resonate the deepest and why.
> Have students relate stories from their own experience and then form teams to tell that story in the medium of their choosing. This assignment helps remove the judgement of whether the writing is good or bad and instead focuses on what makes the story compelling or not.
Regarding lecture topics, a list of basics arose such as the Hero's Journey, character development, archetypes, basic plot structure, and Cyd Field's Hollywood layout. Texts to follow included "First Person" and "Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Video Games".
Discussions of various narrative structures included open vs. closed models, decision trees, and the "ring of pearls". This idea allows the player to explore various plot points in any sequence they choose, as if in a ring of pearls, and once explored they must pass through a key node to continue the story. Other names for this same concept (discussed in the interactive storytelling tutorial) include "clouds and gates" and "the well fed snake". A key topic surrounding interactive narrative was the notion of how to constrain a game world since every possibility cannot be built from the content side.
A highly debated topic arose concerning how to teach story when it permeates so many media. Do you address it broadly to be comprehensive but risk never seeing enough detail to be useful in any medium? Or do you aim for detail in a particular medium, such as games, and risk missing the connections to be made across disciplines? Naturally, a mixture was suggested, erring on the side of specialization to ensure usefulness.
Notes from Game Production: Visual/Audio Design, led by Joseph Arnayosi
Josh Buck – Professor of Art and Animation, Champlain College
Matthew T. Bivens – Multimedia Career Academy, Visual Art Teacher, Levzinger H.S.
Linda Sellhemy – Art Institute San Diego, Academic Director
Kim Callery – IADT-Detroit, G.D. Program Chair
Walter Rotenberry – Wake Tech., Facilitator of Sim. & Game Dev.
Scott Roberts – Assoc. Professor of Animation & Game Dev., DePaul University
David Baker – Ferris State Univ., Grand Rapids, MI
Thomas DiCosola – Rainbow Studios, Game Art – Art Inst. Phoenix
Joe Aranyosi – Director of Curriculum Dev./Education Administrator, CEC
Video Design
• Reviewed the IGDA Curriculum Framework for Visual Design and Audio Design
• Discussed components that may need to be added, including
o Simulation in Game Development
o Motion Capture
o Communicating design ideas
o Additional life/figure drawing
• Discussed whether or not the study of architecture is needed
o Many feel that it is essential to learning scale, proportion, texturing, and modeling
o Some felt that it might be too much to try to cover, and that modeling and texturing environments and characters are enough
• Everyone felt that tracks or elective courses are important, since they would allow students to choose their own path and to specialize in a particular area; however, everyone also felt that a foundational core of courses is also important (drawing, design fundamentals, storyboarding, fundamentals of gameplay, history of games, etc.)
• Everyone currently teaches both 2D and 3D design in their programs
o Flash is an important tool to teaching gaming and beginning programming (e.g. ActionScript)
o Animation basics are necessary; however, interactive design is more important than animation per se
o Most felt that only a few 2D design courses are needed, and that a majority of class time should be spent on 3D design
• Design classes that focus on problem-solving and team-building techniques are important; courses need to remain “applied” and “practical” rather than too much “theory”
• Prototyping and classes that utilize production/development teams are important
o Schools are currently within the range of ½ of all courses to just one or two classes that are “project-based;” everyone felt that adding more project-based courses to the curriculum is important
• Exposure to programming for all students is important, although it doesn’t necessarily need to be C++, C#, or Java; some examples for “introductory” programming tools include
o Virtools
o ActionScript
o MEL
o Xbox development kit, torque engine, unreal engine
• Gamemaker is great for beginning students since it gives them a sense of accomplishment early on
• Project management is key for design students
o Students need practice assessing each other’s work
o Need to pitch ideas, negotiate, develop budgets and timelines, and learn to manage and work within teams
• Interface design and typography are best taught in a Graphic Design program
Audio Design
• Most schools devote only one course to game audio, and most are considering eliminating it altogether to make space for other content
• While audio is important, most audio professionals need a program devoted to sound engineering, music composition, or audio editing (which is impossible to provide in a game dev. program)
• Most game audio professionals can move between industries (motion pictures, recording arts, game audio, etc.) and receive better training elsewhere, not to mention that much audio is outsourced
• Interactive sound is important, but can be taught as a component of other courses
Notes from Game Production: Design, led by Tim Roden
Attendees:
Dr. Timothy Roden, University of Louisiana at Lafayette (roundtable leader)
Robert A. Rosenberg, Wiley Publishing
Dr. Bob Appelman, Indiana University
Amy Chaaban, Waubonsee Community College
Chad Mitzel, Harper College
Ian Schreiber, Ohio University
- Board game design doesn't necessarily scale to computer games. Design FOR computer games.
- Use a multidisiplinary approach. This prepares students for industry. Devs and artists speak different languages.
- Game development 'clubs' at your university are often leading the way with ideas on how game design works. Take a look at how your club is designing and creating games.
- Game design courses should not be restricted to computer science majors.
- Spend time analyzing and critique of exting games. Make sure students are exposed to different types of games, not just the kinds they are interested in - give students assignments playing games.
- A game design course should be EARLY in the curriculum.
- Level design can be a 'unit' within a game design course. Try using a mod tool.
- Design is an iterative process - make your assignments iterative.
- Rapid prototyping should be used as much as possible - don't waste time building something that will be thrown away.
- Game design templates in books are not one-size fits all.
- Teach the 'vocabulary' of games.
- Have students augment their design documents with visuals - use Microsoft Paint, etc.
- A game industry survey class or unit is a good precursor to design.
- Augment a design class with information ab out the industry - salary, job locations, working conditions, etc.
- Test designs on human subjects (other class members) to validate the design.
- Game designers should have a broad background, including technical subjects - programming, creative writing, art, business - need to understand the roles of other people involved in game development.
- have individual and group projects.
- Aspiring game designers should probably major in CS or art - not likely to get into the industry out of college as a designer - work your way up.
Visual & Audio Design Roundtable
Participants:
Josh Buck – Professor of Art and Animation, Champlain College
Matthew T. Bivens – Multimedia Career Academy, Visual Art Teacher, Levzinger H.S.
Linda Sellhemy – Art Institute San Diego, Academic Director
Kim Callery – IADT-Detroit, G.D. Program Chair
Walter Rotenberry – Wake Tech., Facilitator of Sim. & Game Dev.
Scott Roberts – Assoc. Professor of Animation & Game Dev., DePaul University
David Baker – Ferris State Univ., Grand Rapids, MI
Thomas DiCosola – Rainbow Studios, Game Art – Art Inst. Phoenix
Joe Aranyosi – Director of Curriculum Dev./Education Administrator, CEC
Video Design
• Reviewed the IGDA Curriculum Framework for Visual Design and Audio Design
• Discussed components that may need to be added, including
o Simulation in Game Development
o Motion Capture
o Communicating design ideas
o Additional life/figure drawing
• Discussed whether or not the study of architecture is needed
o Many feel that it is essential to learning scale, proportion, texturing, and modeling
o Some felt that it might be too much to try to cover, and that modeling and texturing environments and characters are enough
• Everyone felt that tracks or elective courses are important, since they would allow students to choose their own path and to specialize in a particular area; however, everyone also felt that a foundational core of courses is also important (drawing, design fundamentals, storyboarding, fundamentals of gameplay, history of games, etc.)
• Everyone currently teaches both 2D and 3D design in their programs
o Flash is an important tool to teaching gaming and beginning programming (e.g. ActionScript)
o Animation basics are necessary; however, interactive design is more important than animation per se
o Most felt that only a few 2D design courses are needed, and that a majority of class time should be spent on 3D design
• Design classes that focus on problem-solving and team-building techniques are important; courses need to remain “applied” and “practical” rather than too much “theory”
• Prototyping and classes that utilize production/development teams are important
o Schools are currently within the range of ½ of all courses to just one or two classes that are “project-based;” everyone felt that adding more project-based courses to the curriculum is important
• Exposure to programming for all students is important, although it doesn’t necessarily need to be C++, C#, or Java; some examples for “introductory” programming tools include
o Virtools
o ActionScript
o MEL
o Xbox development kit, torque engine, unreal engine
• Gamemaker is great for beginning students since it gives them a sense of accomplishment early on
• Project management is key for design students
o Students need practice assessing each other’s work
o Need to pitch ideas, negotiate, develop budgets and timelines, and learn to manage and work within teams
• Interface design and typography are best taught in a Graphic Design program
Audio Design
• Most schools devote only one course to game audio, and most are considering eliminating it altogether to make space for other content
• While audio is important, most audio professionals need a program devoted to sound engineering, music composition, or audio editing (which is impossible to provide in a game dev. program)
• Most game audio professionals can move between industries (motion pictures, recording arts, game audio, etc.) and receive better training elsewhere, not to mention that much audio is outsourced
• Interactive sound is important, but can be taught as a component of other courses
Post a Comment
<< Home