There has never been a better time to start a career in the game development industry. Games can be found on computers, the web, gaming consoles, and virtually every mobile tablet and phone. Industry forecasts indicate that gaming will be worth close to $100 billion dollars in the next two years. Talented, creative, and enthusiastic people are in great demand in this industry. Whether you want to start your own independent game project in your basement or work with a small creative team or for a large game development studio, this course will prepare you to start developing your own games.
You will start by learning the fundamentals of game development and get and overview of game genres, platforms, and audiences. Next, you will learn tools and techniques to help you make better design decisions and achieve greater efficiencies as you develop your own games. You will learn why many games fail and how to ensure your games are positioned for success. During the course, you will gain hands-on experience in many of the game development processes. By the end of the course, you will have the experience and confidence to start developing your own games.
Chad Walker is the conceptual designer and artist of several award-winning games, including "Age Of Empires, "Age of Kings," and "Age of Conquerors." He attended the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Arts Inc. and has worked as a computer game artist, comic book illustrator, and instructor. He teaches both traditional art courses and courses in 3D modeling for computer games. Walker co-wrote the popular gaming book "Game Modeling Using Low Polygon Techniques" with his twin brother Eric. They are the co-founders of Walker Boys Studio, which produced the highly acclaimed "Civil War: War Between the States."
The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.
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Lesson 1
Getting Started With Game Development
In this first lesson, you'll get an overview of the game-development industry. You'll find out where the industry is headed and where it came from. You'll also discover what it takes to be a game developer and the wide range of opportunities available—from large development studios to a corporate training office. By the end of this lesson, you'll have a sense of whether this exciting and challenging career is right for you!
Game Genres, Platforms, and Audiences
In this second lesson, you'll get an overview of game genres, platforms, and audiences. You'll find out information on how to leverage specific game-genre techniques to ensure your game is fun. You will also discover the differences between game platforms and how they have an impact on you and the games you develop. By the end of this lesson, you'll have an idea of what game genre you want to develop, what platform or platforms you want to develop for, and what audience segment you'll target.
Game Interface Design
In this lesson, you'll get an overview of game interface design. You'll learn the importance of interface design decisions to your game's success. You'll also find out information about the differences between interfaces based on game genre and gaming platform. By the end of this lesson, you'll have an idea of what interface components to include in your game and how to optimize user experiences.
Immersive and Fun Games
In this lesson, you'll get an overview of why people play games and what makes them fun. You'll discover key elements to include in your games that will make them fun to play. You'll also learn the concept of game immersion, what makes games immersive, and how to create immersive game worlds.
Production Planning
In this lesson, you'll learn about finding talented people and how to create a team to develop your game. You'll also discover the hardware and software requirements of game development. You will also learn about the budgetary requirements associated with developing your game as well as some insight into sources of funding.
Working With Development Tools
In this lesson, you'll explore game engines and how you can use them to develop your game. You'll also learn about several professional development environments and how they can be leveraged to your advantage. You'll also have the opportunity to experiment with a few mobile-application development environments.
Game-Development Processes: Part 1
How do you work with and lead game-development teams both in person and remotely? In this lesson, you'll learn how! You'll also discover the benefits and pitfalls of outsourcing portions of your game-development project and how to use consultants to your advantage. Last, you'll explore the game-development cycle and how to apply the cycle to your game-development project.
Game-Development Processes: Part 2
You'll continue your exploration of game-development processes in this lesson. First, you'll examine several practices and processes that will help you with your game-development project. Then, you'll discover the importance of testing your game's functions and features. You'll also learn how to manage the testing process. Finally, you'll learn how to create your own game-release schema including alpha, beta, and public game releases.
Developing Games as Mobile Apps
In this lesson, you'll explore the mobile application market to help you decide which mobile platforms you want to develop your game for. You'll discover tools and techniques that you can use to develop games for mobile devices, including tablets and smartphones. You'll also learn how to distribute your mobile app to Apple's App Store, Google Play, Windows Phone Store, and BlackBerry's App World.
Post-production
In this lesson, you'll examine how to prepare your game for post-production and how to continue working on your game after it has been distributed. You'll discover how to make your game marketable, including the developing of pricing and marketing strategies. You'll learn how to get people to play and talk about your game as part of your post-production efforts. Last, you'll learn how to upgrade and support your game.
Preparing for a Career in Game Development
In this lesson, you'll explore the game-development industry and decide where you want to fit in. You'll learn about several career fields and explore the knowledge and skills each one requires and where to get the proper education and experience. You'll also gain the necessary information to develop your own path toward a career in game development.
Putting It All Together
In the last lesson, you'll discover the opportunities and challenges in game development—and how to capitalize on the first and overcome the second! You'll learn how to develop a game project to include designing, developing, and publishing your game. You'll also learn how to move beyond the basics of game development.
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