BIO

Video Game Design

• The origin and evolution of game mechanics and its effective integration into video games

• The design process and method of balancing a game's design and mechanics for optimum effect

• How different industry roles collaborate to produce, market, and ship a video game

• How engines and different assets are created and brought together to build a video game

• How to create some simple elements of running game code

Video Game Design History

• Where the first video games came from

• How video games connect to pinball

• Why the industry crashed in the 80’s

• When Virtual Reality (VR) first appeared in the industry

• How the games of the past chart a path to the future of gaming

Video Game Design and Balance

• Formal elements of games like goals and mechanics

• How designers determine the appropriate audience and player group for a game

• What makes different game genres different

• How game designers balance games

Video Game Asset Creation and Process

• How the different elements within a video game are created

• How video game assets are created differently than other media products

• How the assets come together and who’s responsible for making all the pieces work together

• How a video game gets “polished” into a shipping product

Video Game Design: Teamwork & Collaboration

• The different roles on a video game development team

• The different roles on the wider business and support teams

• Game designer’s backgrounds and how they interact with each other

• The process by which video games are made, marketed, and sold

Gameplay Programming for Video Game Designers

• The different types of programming and skill sets required for video game designers

• The common processes of programming 

• How different control structures work

• How assets make their way onto a video game and how they interact with the code