Tutorials and Lessons

Welcome to Game Art and Design!

If you like video games, you are in the the right place. In this class, we will learn how to design and produce high quality games. We will begin the year looking at the history and theory of game design. You will then have the opportunity to work in a production team to design an original board game. The second half of the term will be spent studying computer games. You will also have the opportunity to design and produce your own computer game. I hope that, by the end of the course, you will have a profesional quality portfolio of modeling and animation work.

While this class can be a lot of fun and a realxing break from the a high - pressure high school day, this class is not for everybody. Although fun and very satisfying, this class is not easy. There is a lot of work. Since it is all about the details, some people find it very tedious and boring. But, if you stick with it, put in the time and take pride in your work, you will be successful and have skills that very few people have.

Classroom Rules and Policies

Since this is school, and I see many students over the course of the year, we must have rules and policies to keep things running smoothly and safely. Please refer to the GCS and Weaver student handbooks for the general rules. But, we have some specific rules and policies for this classroom that need to be stated. You should also read the class syllabus for information on attendance, grading and extra help. Here are a few other rules that need to be followed.

Missing and Late Assignments
Assignments are expected to be turned in on the due date, unless prior arrangements have been made with the teacher. After the deadline passes, assignments not turned in will receive an intial grade of zero. Late assignments will receive a deduction from the grade of 5 points per day. After 10 days, the highest grade that can be earned is 50%. Assignments not turned in at all will result in a final grade of zero.

Plagiarism
Turning in work that is not your own is plagiarism. Plagiarism will result in a grade of zero for the assignment and a discipline referral. Do not allow another person to turn in your work - in whole or part - as their own. Doing this will result in a grade of zero and a discipline referral for both students.

Classroom Rules
There are four basic rules for this classroom. Continually violating these rules will result in loss of your participation grade and possibly a discipline referral.

Don't prevent me from teaching
Don't prevent yourself or others from learning
Always be safe
Keep the classroom clean

Examples
What do these rules look like in daily practice? Here are some examples:
Don't prevent me from teaching

Do not talk when I am addressing the class
Raise your hand if you wish to speak and wait for me to call on you
Do not interrupt me when I am helping another student

Don't prevent yourself or others from learning

Don't let music or other off-topic internet activities keep you from getting your work done
Don't behave in a disruptive or distracting way
Don't engage in lengthy off-topic conversations
Keep the volume of your voice down
No singing, rapping, or other disruptive noises

Always be safe

Don't throw, toss, flick, or roll anything across the table, floor, or classroom
Don't roll across the classroom in your chair
Use classroom materials in a safe manner
Don't behave in any way that threatens harm to anyone or our equipment

Keep the classroom clean

Clean up after yourself so your station is ready for the next student
Return classroom materials to the proper storage place
Don't eat or drink anything at your station. Keep all food and drink at the tables
Don't bring your lunch into the classroom unless it is during lunch period
Keep your language clean

Photoshop and Illustrator

Graphic design tools, like Photoshop and Illustrator, can be very useful to the game designer. From making concept art, sprites and tilessheets to producing game boards and cards, skills with these tools are am essential part of your game design education.

Illustrator Basics

Learn the basics of Adobe Illustrator.

Game Engines

Game engines are integrated development environments, IDE's, used for creating games. Two of the most popular are Unreal Engine, by Epic Games, and Unity. Game engines allow the game designer to bring together graphics and programming in order to create a game. Unreal and Unity are 3D game engines. There are also 2D game enigines. GameMaker Studio, by Yo Yo Games, is a simple but powerful game engine that is used mainly to produce 2d games, like platform games, mazes and scrolling shooters. All game engines have a coding aspect. Most have a visual scripting option, allowing you to use code elements to build complex game programming, instead of having to type in code manually. Both Unreal and Game Maker have this capability already built in.