[game_edu] Brenda Braithwaite's game_edu rant at GDC

[pawlicki at cs.rochester.edu]

First of all, we should all remember that Computer Science is not
"programming". That is simply a  misconception.

However, programming is the gateway to understanding
how digital information machines work. One should know this
in order to design applications on such machines.

If you don't understand a compression ratio or
the concept of a torque converter, then can you really design sports
cars? If you don't understand how a camera works, can you really be a 
director? Similarly, if you don't understand how the digital information
machine works, then can you really design a digital game? (Or any
useful application?) I honestly  don't think so.

Ted Pawlicki
Undergraduate Program Director
Department of Computer Science
University of Rochester



> To push your metaphor a bit-do you need to be a mechanic to design cars,

> because I'd argue that having specific programming skill is more similar

> to the work of a mechanic than an engineer.  Mechanics know plenty about

> what's under the hood.

>

> I don't think you need programming skills, I think you need formal logic

> skills coupled with creativity. If you close the door on non-programmers,

> you're losing an opportunity.

>

>

>

>

> Sent from my iPhone

>

> Lindsay Grace

> LGrace.com

>

>

> On Mar 3, 2011, at 11:37 AM, "pawlicki at cs.rochester.edu"

> <pawlicki at cs.rochester.edu> wrote:

>

>> Consider:

>>

>> Do you need to be an engineer to design a sports car?

>>

>> I think that you do. Sure sports cars are "fun". You can't

>> design a sports car without understand issues of art, style,

>> and the psychology of interaction with the machine and

>> technology. Nonetheless, you need to be an engineer to

>> design a car because you have to understand how the technology

>> "under the hood" determines the user experience. The two

>> are not separable.

>>

>> Likewise, and for the same reasons, you need to be an engineer

>> to design a game. The technology is not separate from the

>> user experience.

>>

>> Ted Pawlicki

>> Department of Computer Science

>> Hajim School of Engineering

>> Univerisity of Rochester

>>

>>

>>> 'Good', yes. But there are inferences in what you are saying that I'd

>>> like to clarify.

>>>

>>> You are describing the process as a solo one. I think that's not usual,

>>> and the role of the designer in the development team is not one that

>>> involves programming (at least not necessarily). Programming is not a

>>> big part of the design phase at all IMO, and only once one has a clear

>>> design concept can you really build anything, then iterate it. Assuming

>>> that the designer holds the game in their hands until it solidifies

>>> into

>>> a playable is not something I personally would do.

>>>

>>> JP

>>>

>>> On 3/3/2011 11:10 AM, Seth Sivak wrote:

>>>> I think it is good for designers to be able to code.  They do not need

>>>> to be "engineers" but be able to code enough to prototype their own

>>>> designs.  As soon as you add in another person the iteration loop gets

>>>> much longer, and the longer the loop the fewer iterations that can be

>>>> completed.  Once the game is out of the design phase and more into

>>>> production the game design role becomes more about problem solving

>>>> than pure creativity, so at that point it is fine to no longer code

>>>> and let pure engineers create the production level stuff.

>>>>

>>>> Seth

>>>>

>>>> On Thu, Mar 3, 2011 at 12:53 PM, jparker <jparker at ucalgary.ca

>>>> <mailto:jparker at ucalgary.ca>> wrote:

>>>>

>>>>    Interesting rant, and she certainly has credentials.

>>>>

>>>>    Still, I don't think that game designers are necessarily excellent

>>>>    programmers. They need to understand limits and possibilities, and

>>>>    to be able to communicate well with programmers. Game design is

>>>>    not a programming task, and game development is not a software

>>>>    business. It's a business that does involve software to be sure.

>>>>    Computer science programs (in my observation over only the past 12

>>>>    years) produce relatively poor game designers, as their focus is

>>>>    rather different than that of most design fields. It makes as much

>>>>    sense that a CS major could design a good chair or house as design

>>>>    a good game. And in fact, the game programmers on a team

>>>>    traditionally have relatively little input to the creative process

>>>>    (again, there are certainly exceptions, and things are changing in

>>>>    some places).

>>>>

>>>>    If a game designer has a vast knowledge of programming that could

>>>>    be a good thing. I don't believe it to be a requirement. Thus the

>>>>    question is 'is it worth the time needed to become an excellent

>>>>    programmer'? That's hard to answer with authority.

>>>>

>>>>    Jim

>>>>

>>>>

>>>>    On 3/3/2011 8:38 AM, Peter Border wrote:

>>>>

>>>>        For anybody else who's stuck at home this week.

>>>>

>>>>        http://bbrathwaite.wordpress.com/2011/03/01/built-on-a-foundation-of-code-game-edu-rant/

>>>>

>>>>        Peter Border

>>>>        Game and Application Design Chairman

>>>>        Globe University/Minnesota School of Business

>>>>        1401 West 76th St

>>>>        Richfield, MN 55423

>>>>        pborder at msbcollege.edu <mailto:pborder at msbcollege.edu>

>>>>        ________________________________________

>>>>

>>>>        _______________________________________________

>>>>        game_edu mailing list

>>>>        game_edu at igda.org <mailto:game_edu at igda.org>

>>>>        http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/game_edu

>>>>

>>>>

>>>>

>>>>    --

>>>>    From Hauptmann

>>>>    --------------------------------------------------------------------

>>>>    The inflated  style is itself a  kind of euphemism.  A mass of

>>>> Latin

>>>>    words falls upon the facts like soft snow, blurring the outlines

>>>> and

>>>>    covering up all  the details. The  great enemy of  clear language

>>>> is

>>>>    insincerity.                                          —George

>>>> Orwell

>>>>

>>>>    Dr. J. R. Parker,                    Digital Media Laboratory

>>>>    Professor of Play http://www.ucalgary.ca/~jparker

>>>>    <http://www.ucalgary.ca/%7Ejparker>

>>>>    Faculty of Fine Arts                 jparker@ ucalgary.ca

>>>>    <http://ucalgary.ca>

>>>>    University of Calgary                403-220-6784      AB606/AB611

>>>>

>>>>

>>>>    _______________________________________________

>>>>    game_edu mailing list

>>>>    game_edu at igda.org <mailto:game_edu at igda.org>

>>>>    http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/game_edu

>>>>

>>>>

>>>>

>>>>

>>>> --

>>>> +Seth

>>>

>>> --

>>> From Hauptmann

>>> --------------------------------------------------------------------

>>> The inflated  style is itself a  kind of euphemism.  A mass of Latin

>>> words falls upon the facts like soft snow, blurring the outlines and

>>> covering up all  the details. The  great enemy of  clear language is

>>> insincerity.                                          —George Orwell

>>>

>>> Dr. J. R. Parker,                    Digital Media Laboratory

>>> Professor of Play                    http://www.ucalgary.ca/~jparker

>>> Faculty of Fine Arts                 jparker@ ucalgary.ca

>>> University of Calgary                403-220-6784      AB606/AB611

>>>

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