Is that difficult?

Dont students need to understand game design to do game development?

Are people seriously suggesting 3d game design for a high school class? It's only 10 times more complex than 2d game design which is complex enough.

Are people seriously suggesting 3d game design for a high school class? It's only 10 times more complex than 2d game design which is complex enough.

OK. Forget it then! :P

What you listed would mostly make a good course.

Breaking down your semesters, I see them as:

S1:

* Mostly design, some art, some history.

* Mostly art, perhaps some minor design

* Mostly art and art history.

* Mix of art and introductory programming.

S2:

* Much programming and art, some level design, audio, some production and scoping, with a few other broad development items mixed in.

* Seems dangerous, jumping to 3D Programming, 3D modeling and 3D animation, 3D level design, all other development disciplines mixed in.

The last half of semester 2 does not quite fit the rest of the course. If the students had already been taught 3D modeling and 3D animation, and the students had a background that was more likely to include linear algebra, then Unity and 3D worlds would be appropriate.

Manipulation of 2D is geometry and trigonometry, along with flat 2D artwork that kids have worked with since first handed crayons. Most students are likely to have some experience with the math, they'll help each other out with sine and cosine and "SohCahToa" and similar math needed for 2D manipulation, and 2D art is straightforward.

Manipulation of 3D is linear algebra usually not taught until college, and the art of 3D models and 3D animation splines take some time to wrap your brain around. The students likely will not be able to discuss the problems of using dot products, cross products, transformation matrices, quaternions, and the other math topics involved.

I'd finish off with Game Maker at the end of the year, sticking with 2D design elements and 2D art and 2D engines. The transition from 2D to 3D is quite big, so I wouldn't move to Unity and 3D for the final piece. With the time they've got they could produce quite a good game.

Basically treating it like many wood shop and metal shop courses, where the last quarter is free-form with students working on a directed project of their choosing.

Perhaps S2 could be broken down into first following the book you've got, then followed up with more actual design concepts as the students build their masterpieces of their choosing. To help keep it interesting, maybe half day of instruction and half day of free development. If you're looking for game design topics to cover, the YouTube channel Extra Credits covers quite a lot of topics in game design in the greenish videos. (The brown videos are probably not as useful for the course.)

What you listed would mostly make a good course.

Breaking down your semesters, I see them as:

S1:

* Mostly design, some art, some history.

* Mostly art, perhaps some minor design

* Mostly art and art history.

* Mix of art and introductory programming.

S2:

* Much programming and art, some level design, audio, some production and scoping, with a few other broad development items mixed in.

* Seems dangerous, jumping to 3D Programming, 3D modeling and 3D animation, 3D level design, all other development disciplines mixed in.

The last half of semester 2 does not quite fit the rest of the course. If the students had already been taught 3D modeling and 3D animation, and the students had a background that was more likely to include linear algebra, then Unity and 3D worlds would be appropriate.

Manipulation of 2D is geometry and trigonometry, along with flat 2D artwork that kids have worked with since first handed crayons. Most students are likely to have some experience with the math, they'll help each other out with sine and cosine and "SohCahToa" and similar math needed for 2D manipulation, and 2D art is straightforward.

Manipulation of 3D is linear algebra usually not taught until college, and the art of 3D models and 3D animation splines take some time to wrap your brain around. The students likely will not be able to discuss the problems of using dot products, cross products, transformation matrices, quaternions, and the other math topics involved.

I'd finish off with Game Maker at the end of the year, sticking with 2D design elements and 2D art and 2D engines. The transition from 2D to 3D is quite big, so I wouldn't move to Unity and 3D for the final piece. With the time they've got they could produce quite a good game.

Basically treating it like many wood shop and metal shop courses, where the last quarter is free-form with students working on a directed project of their choosing.

Perhaps S2 could be broken down into first following the book you've got, then followed up with more actual design concepts as the students build their masterpieces of their choosing. To help keep it interesting, maybe half day of instruction and half day of free development. If you're looking for game design topics to cover, the YouTube channel Extra Credits covers quite a lot of topics in game design in the greenish videos. (The brown videos are probably not as useful for the course.)

Sorry. I tried to grab individual quotes but the system didn't let me. With regards to finishing the course with Game Maker, how long do you think it would take for kids to learn it well enough to make a decent original game? I am going to avoid 3d except with regards to sculpting (Maya, or whatever). Is Unity only 3d?

I will have to follow the book I have loosely as it has a ton of stuff in it.

Are people seriously suggesting 3d game design for a high school class? It's only 10 times more complex than 2d game design which is complex enough.

OK. Forget it then! :P

Yes, I'm seriously suggesting (a very restricted amount of) 3D.

BTW, are my posts invisible?

With regards to finishing the course with Game Maker, how long do you think it would take for kids to learn it well enough to make a decent original game? I am going to avoid 3d except with regards to sculpting (Maya, or whatever). Is Unity only 3d?

Slow down and breathe. Why are you putting some much pressure on yourself? The objective is to create something related to game development while learning useful skills in a short amount of time. You will know the answer as to how long it will take to learn and later teach, because you are in the process of learning these new skills yourself, correct?

I don't know of any process that would be easier, other than osmosis.

Take the time to look at each game-engine and make some attempt to try what you intend to teach so you have an indication of the complexity involved. Then choose the one that would be easiest to make something of which students could be proud of (not something that looks market ready - keep it simple).

Are you able to confirm the course's total number of hours?

Well the course will be about 4.5 hrs a week for two 20 week semesters (though there are a lot of days in there that classes are shortened or don't meet).

I'm just trying to get a good idea of what programs do what from the outset because as it is I have a lot of work to do making the curriculum with all its parts. I don't have time to tinker around with 10 different software systems. I mean, did you see that first list I included a link for? It's overwhelming!

Well the course will be about 4.5 hrs a week for two 20 week semesters (though there are a lot of days in there that classes are shortened or don't meet).

Will students who "don't meet", be able to catch up on the lessons they've missed?

I don't have time to tinker around with 10 different software systems. I mean, did you see that first list I included a link for?

I've seen lots of lists, which is why I thought I knew what to recommend - but I guess I don't. :lol:

Just to throw in a couple more things:

1. The class has to be attractive to students. There needs to be 1 or 2 big showcases throughout the school year where the community will see exciting games and be able to play them and want to enroll in our school. The environment is very competitive. So basically, I need things that LOOK GOOD.

Wow, that would be impressive. How much does the course cost? Are you looking for investors?

Here's another way I could describe what I'd like the students to be able to make, as I took a look at some Game Maker student work and it was all quite simplistic (low-res and so forth).

Is there software (or do you guys call them "engines"?) where students are given a library or ready made 3d forms that they can just arrange into spaces and "program" the actions? That way they would have some creative opportunity but wouldn't have to actually design the assets (is that the term?). An earlier poster on this thread described something like this but what software would be best?

Now I could be totally wrong. Maybe the students won't find the low-res 2d stuff bad. Maybe there's enough in the experience of making a game that it will still be exciting. I have no idea how they look at this kind of thing. I just know that video games now look like live action film! And that's what they are getting used to. Will a low-res game with more creative control be better to them than a 3d game with cool graphics that they kind of collage together? I don't know if any of you have used Google Sketchup before, but it has a thing called "3d warehouse" where you can import ready made stuff, in fact things that people around the world have made and put into a library to share. Students have incorporated these types of images into things they've built in 3d in Sketchup and it not only looks good but is a legitimate way of making images (again, basically collage).