[game_edu] Reasons TO teach game dev

[pawlicki at cs.rochester.edu]

Greg,

I do appreciate your insights. Both my courses are for first semester
students. So, my comparison is based on equally novice students.
What we wanted was a way to attract students to CS with a "learn
to make a video game course". I don't intend to be a total Negative
Nancy - the course is going ok, for the most part. My point is/was
that there is really no way to avoid the conceptual complexity of
development. Building a game is a hard task - harder in fact than
the simple programming tasks in a traditional course. There are just
a lot of concepts.

TFP


> I read what you had written below, Ted, and saw some things which threw up

> red flag for me.  I hope my insights can help you.

>

> In regard to student frustration, I can place some of the issues on the

> fact you are using the Platformer kit.  So on top of all the work you need

> to do to have your students learn and use XNA, you then place the burden

> of using a considerable code base. The platformer on a student's first

> go-around is a considerable amount of code and assets to wade through.

> Ultimately, what they produce is a product which is only a derivative of

> the Platformer kit.

>

> Another red flag is that you call XNA an "Engine". Than that's flat out

> wrong. It's a framework that is designed to be genre neutral. What I have

> found and honed in my own XNA course is to approach XNA is as a lego set

> for making games in C#.  So I get down to basics. I explain the game loop.

> Render a texture and then Move it around. Walk them through creating a

> Sprite Class. Get User Input. Play with Sound. Do Collision Detection.

> This ends up being the second lab in this course. Granted, this does take

> me 2 weeks to get through this in my Freshman Course.

>

> What isn't evident in your description below if your course is a first or

> second term course. In my case XNA is a Second term course after taking a

> standard introduction C++ course and an Introduction to Game programming

> using Adobe Flash Platform with Actionscript. If your course is a first

> term course, then the approach you need to take will be more like our Game

> Programing Introduction course. You have to easing them in teaching

> programming fundamentals along the way. (Here's what's a variable, Here's

> how to generate random numbers, Here's an if statement).

>

> We maintain all our course files on a web server, if you (or anyone else

> for that matter)  would like to explore our Freshman Classes and

> curriculum, please contact me off list directly so I can provide you with

> the information.

>

> Greg

>

> Gregory Walek

> Professor AGGP

> NHTI, Concord NH

> ________________________________________

> From: game_edu-bounces at igda.org [game_edu-bounces at igda.org] on behalf of

> pawlicki at cs.rochester.edu [pawlicki at cs.rochester.edu]

> Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2011 8:40 AM

> To: IGDA Game Education Listserv

> Subject: Re: [game_edu] an undetermined number of reasons NOT to teach

> game dev

>

> One big reason not to teach "game development" is that "it's hard".

>

> I teach two Freshman classes, one is "Intro Programming" a 'hard' course

> for CS majors the other is "video game development" intended to be

> a 'fun and easy' course to get people interested in Computer Science.

> In the majors class I use Java in the game course I use C#/XNA.

> It turns out that there is a lot of complexity with using a sophisticated

> game engine. The VS/C#/XNA tools and support are great, but the power

> comes with a price. In the regular majors class, I have them do projects

> like "pong" or "tetris" or a simple dungeon crawler - which everyone

> should

> program at some time in their lives. The students in the video game

> class do more sophisticated projects (customizing a 2D platformer) but

> they seem more frustrated because they don't have as deep a

> fundamental understanding of how it works. So, video game

> development courses may scare students away from CS because of

> the difficulty.

>

> The second reason not to teach "game development" is that it's

> multidisciplinary.

>

> When I get Freshmen wanting a course in game

> development I now tell them that there is no such thing. In order

> to develop games you need strong skills in Computer Science, but

> also in media studies (which is in our English department), Studio

> Art & Art History, Music, and Business. (Wow - just like what we

> used to call "a well rounded liberal education" - surprise!).

> I help them put together a four year plan that emphasized their

> personal strength, but informs them in the other areas. (And of

> course, they need to build games as projects.) They wind up as well

> prepared for the video game industry as a formal education can get them,

> but they also are ready for other career choices. They get a real general

> education, not a "game specific" education. So, the second reason not

> to teach game development is that it's too narrow a topic for a good

> formal education.

>

> Yours,

>

> Ted

>

>

> Thaddeus F. Pawlicki, Ph.D.

> Undergraduate Program Director

> Computer Science Dept.      (585) 275-4198

> University of Rochester       FAX (585) 273-4556

> Rochester, NY  14627-0226   pawlicki at cs.rochester.edu

> http://www.cs.rochester.edu/u/pawlicki/

>

>

> ''One of the most difficult tasks men can perform, however much others may

> despise it, is the invention of good games and it cannot be done by men

> out

> of touch with their instinctive selves.'' - Carl Jung 1977

>

>

>

>

>

>> Ian, several on your list are already in the first draft! Not worded in

>> quite the same way, but really good to know others are on the same

>> wavelength as me!

>>

>> This is going to be for #altdevblogaday and I normally just write from

>> the

>> hip, but my confidence took a beating last post, when I got savaged in

>> the

>> comments section. So thanks for the sounding board of suggestions, as I

>> feel I'm on the right track. Yes, these lists are generalisations, but

>> like all stereotypes the underlying truth often needs airing to be truly

>> scrutinised.

>>

>> Mike

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