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Frequently Asked Questions

We’re just starting our new degree so we don’t have many questions yet. As we talk to prospective freshmen and their parents, we will add them to this page. If you have questions you would like to see answered here, email them to Kim Gregson.

  1. What resources are there for students in the game design and immersive media major?
    We have a collection of analog games - 24 as of September 2008. You will play them in class, analyze their design, and learn how to teach other people how to play. We have several DS’s and PSPs. We have both current gen and next gen consoles. We are building a collection of software and have approximately 30 titles so far. Students can check the videogames out for 72 hours. We will play them in class and students will have assignments where they have to play and analyze a variety of games.There are student groups on campus that will be of interest to game design students. Other realms is our board game club. They meet every other Saturday to play board and card games. We also have Players, a videogame club, that meets every week. In the past they’ve had NHL 2008 tournaments, played many hours of Smash Brothers and RockBand. Once the major is officially started, we will form an IGDA student group (IGDA = International Game Developers Association).
  2. What kind of games will we learn to make?
    Over the four years you will make have an opportunity to make a lot of different types of games. The industry wants to see finished products in your portfolio - both analog and digital. We’ll give you lots of opportunities. As a freshman, you will make analog games - board games, dice games, card games - since you won’t have strong programming skills yet. We are examining some easy to use non-programming tools for making games; we will work them into the curriculum as we find ones we like. As a sophomore you will make 2D and 3D videogames using tools like Game Maker, 3D Gamestudio, XNA, Torque. We are still investigating tools for beginning designers. You will make games in Flash. As a junior you will have the opportunity to focus on game of a particular genre, such as MMOs, casual games, first person shooters, and virtual worlds. As a senior, you will have free-rain to make the kind of game you want as a capstone for your portfolio. Along the way we expect you to work on game mods and making your own games.
  3. Why do I need to take an outside minor?
    The short answer is we want you to be able to make games about something. If you want to make MMOs you need to understand economics and politics before you can create them in your game. If you want to create a fighter game, it would be good to know about anatomy and martial arts - ok, maybe that’s two really different minors but it’s doable. Psychology is a great major - we want our games to affect people and psychology is a way to understand humor and other strong emotional responses. The long answer is part of saying you have a college education is to gain a really broad based knowledge of the world. Sometimes it’s just so you can have an intelligent conversation at a dinner party with your boss. Mostly it’s because having a broad understanding in the world helps you see connections and patterns in things that are important. You will work with your advisor to pick an appropriate minor.
  4. Mac or PC?
    The short answer is that it’s Mac and PC in the games major. There are engines that work on both platforms. Other tools are just Mac or just PC. You’ll get comfortable working on all kinds of hardware. We’ll use the laptops in class and you’ll have access to PC labs in Park and over in the CS department.