Games Through the Ages**
1 Semester: 18 Units
Whether we play alone or with friends, almost everyone enjoys a good game. From Candyland to Fantasy Football, games entertain us and challenge us, but their impact throughout history goes much deeper. In this course, you will learn that games reflect the social, religious, political and economic elements of every society's culture. You will also have the opportunity to construct game boards developed by ancient civilizations and to demonstrate a knowledge of game rules by accurately applying them. The designs of new and old games will be compared and contrasted.
**This course is a pre-requisite to all other Entertainment Technology Courses.
Game Design Studio*
1 Semester: 18 Units
Welcome to Game Design Studio! This course will show students what it takes to play and create their own complex games. Students who are interested in entering the industry will benefit from this in-depth approach. Planning, organization, and writing skills will be emphasized, and projects will accompany what is covered in every unit. The game designs in this course will be "pencil-and-paper" games, built as hands-on prototypes. This will allow you to concentrate on GAME DESIGN, rather than learning a new [digital] tool. Using standard art supplies will allow you to rapidly prototype, playtest, and revise your games much faster than any other way.
*Pre-requisite-Games through the Ages
Game Production and Marketing
1 Semester: 18 Units
This course is for individuals who wish to understand the entire process of designing a game, marketing a game and, finally, getting that game into the hands of customers who wish to play the game.
With the rise of the video game industry, many gamers are inspired to work in that industry. Some people may believe there is really only one job in the industry, that of game designer/programmer. While that job is crucial (and really is two jobs: game designer and game programmer) there are, in actuality, many other jobs in the business.
During this course you will have the opportunity to investigate team roles and collaboratively create a game. You'll not only try out team roles to see what they are like, but throughout this course you'll also gain a greater understanding of where the roles fit in the business of producing and marketing games.
*Pre-requisite-Games through the Ages
ETA GameMaker Programming I
1 Semester: 18 Units
In this course students will learn how to create games using the GameMaker interface and GML,GameMaker's scripting language. You will begin building games in the first unit and learn the fundamentals of programming along the way. Students will learn about backgrounds, playing pieces, runtime errors and more. *This course requires the purchase of GameMaker software.
ETA GameMaker Programming II
1 Semester: 18 Units
This course is a continuation of ETA GameMaker Programming I, which is a prerequisite to this course. Students will continue to work in the interface, and learn more skills in programming. They will learn about building an enemy, player bases, weapons, scope and more. *This course requires the purchase of GameMaker software.
ETA Mobile Game Design
1 Semester: 18 Units
It seems as if everyone has an idea for an "app" these days! In this course, students will use professional game design techniques to create playable mobile games that can be added to a game design portfolio. Using GameSalad, students will learn the fundamentals of game balance, apply competition and playfulness, demonstrate a working knowledge of triangularity, and debug using iterative game design. *This course requires the purchase of GameSalad software.
3D Modeling I
1 Semester: 18 Units
In this course, you will become familiar with the 3DS Max modeling software. This software package is a great tool used by many professionals. It is not perfect, no software is. It crashes - all software crashes. Saving your work often is your responsibility. It is unintelligent, which means that it just follows your commands. It cannot tell you that you are doing something wrong. You can click on a combination of buttons and it will carry out your wishes. Some combinations will confuse it and you will end up with strange results. Save often! Don't be afraid to experiment!
Don't spend too much time trying to master the tool. Master the art of 3D modeling! Like any art, it will take years of practice to become skillful!
The screen images you have in your software may vary from those seen in the lessons. Any variation in images has no effect on the content of the lesson.
3D Modeling II
1 Semester: 18 Units
In this course, you will to work with the 3DS Max modeling software. This software package is a great tool used by many professionals. It is not perfect, but no software is.It crashes - all software crashes. Saving your work often is your responsibility. It is unintelligent, which means that it just follows your commands. It cannot tell you that you are doing something wrong. You can click on a combination of buttons and it will carry out your wishes. Some combinations will confuse it and you will end up with strange results. Save often! But don't be afraid to experiment!
Don't spend too much time trying to master the tool. Master the art of 3D modeling! Like any art, it will take years of practice to become skillful!
The screen images in your software may vary from those seen in the lessons. Any variation in images has no effect on the content of the lesson.
Modern Storytelling*
1 Semester: 18 Units
This course teaches the fundamentals of dramatic storytelling. Stories that you read work very differently than stories you see. For example, novels work very differently than films, plays, television shows, or games. Each of the visual mediums works slightly differently, yet all of them share more similarities when compared to written fiction.
*Pre-requisite-Games through the Ages