Monday, April 28th

Class Hours: 10:05 – 2:40
Mr. Bohmann | wbohmann@ewsd.org

Week 30

10:05 Today’s Notes & Attendance

Welcome aboard for the last six or so weeks of school, next stop is Recognition Night on June 12th
Our final stretch of school will be focused on game, game design and game programming and we’ll include pixel art, animation and the user experience (UX)
Job Fair at the UMall this Saturday – see Ms. Charron if you want more details
I’d like the link to your youtube video (PSA) please follow this link and drop so I can grade
Two assignments are due this Friday
- One Button Game Proposal
- Pinball Game – Final Version – we’ll play each other’s games, then publish

10:10 Monday Mail Check

10:15 What do Game Designer’s Do?

Poppy (Lead Programmer) from Mythic Quest – courtesy of Polygon.com

There are lots of areas of expertise in the field of game design. Three primary roles/categories encompass this career path. Those roles include:

Game Designer
Game Programmer
Game Artist

Some of those categories broken down into specific roles include:

Lead Game Designer – defines the game, establishes the core concept and features of the game – big picture person

Level Designer – designs the layout, flow, layout and placement of props, maybe even some scripting

Assets & Environmental Designer – works with the creative director to model the worlds, assets and builds

Content Designer – comes up with the quests, the story, the dialog, the missions and in game material

Systems Designer – determines the collection of mechanics that controls the outcome, combat system or inventory system, magic systems – you get the picture

Economics Designer determines the award system, costs of items (like swords) awards, level ups, damage, etc…

Creative Director – sets the creative course of the game and holds to overall vision together

Game Producer – ensures funding and different roles are working together to produce a high quality game on time

Let’s take a quick dive into the life of Environmental Artist David Lesperance. David creates the rich, lifelike backdrops for games such as World of Warcraft, Halo and Diablo. While this video is a little old, it does explain his approach to creating digital environments, blocking, lighting and iterative design. Check out David’s work on Artstation.

Activity: Career Exploration

Open Google Classroom and look for the Assignment called Game Careers. Explore several jobs (anywhere on the globe) that are hiring in the field of game design or development. Some places to look:

Look at several jobs to get an idea of what kinds of work you might be interested in. Then, answer the following questions.

What types of jobs are there in the game industry?
What types of jobs in the game industry did you look at or find most interesting to you? What did you like? Why is this job interesting to you
What kinds of qualifications are necessary for the jobs you looked at? Where are a lot of the jobs located?
What career search engines did you look at? Which did you like the most for career exploration?

10:50 Morning Break (10 minutes)

11:00 IRC Learning Hour – Unity Certified User – Artist Certification / Game Programmer

An IRC is an Industry Recognized Credential. You have (and will again) earn the Certified Web Designer certification which is an IRC. I’d like to test a new credential through Unity. You get to choose your learning path…

Artist Certification

The Unity Certified User Artist certification will test your 2D and 3D digital artistry within Unity. This certification demonstrates knowledge that includes managing the basic aspects of dealing with art assets, scene content design, and using tools within Unity to assist in experience creation.

Programmer Certification

The Unity Certified User Programmer certification will test the basics of C# programming within Unity software to create interactivity in games, apps, AR/VR, and other experiences. This certification demonstrates entry-level knowledge that includes debugging, problem-solving, and interpreting the API, creating and evaluating code, and navigating the Unity interface. In the course you will build a 2D side scrolling game.

This is my first year testing out this platform, we’ll do it each Monday and Tuesday in what was previously your English class. Those who complete the course may opt to take the certification exam in June.

To redeem an access code:

Log in to your student account at www.gmetrix.net using your the sign-in with Google Option (make sure you are signed in to the browser with your school account)
In the menu select the Redeem Code icon.
Enter the code in the window that pops up and select Redeem.
- Be sure to include the hyphens, and if you copy/pasted the code, be sure to delete any spaces that may have been added to the beginning or end of the code.
Once you have redeemed a code, it is tied to your account, and you can access the practice tests or courses on it without redeeming it again the next time you log on. As long as you log into the same account, you can access this content from any device.
I recommend you make a bookmark to the Gmetrix page.

Access Code is found in the stream on Google Classroom

Today you will select the track you want to try out. If you really cannot decide, consider looking at both, but you must make a selection by tomorrow and then move forward. The path not taken would be a great Agency choice for independent production time.