Pre-College Game Design

To be a good game designer, you must understand the fundamental principles of game design, the computer science that goes into designing a video game, the art and animation production process, and the storytelling and character creation skills necessary to bring video games to life.  Having strong knowledge with all technical and creative aspects of the game development process is important in order to create the type of engaging interactive experiences today’s players expect.

During this four week program, you will get to experience what life is like for DigiPen college students who are working to complete their Bachelor of Arts in Game Design. The students in this track will take three (3) core academic classes plus the game project lab that involves all of the students from all of the Pre-College tracks to work together to complete a game:

• GD: Principles of Game Design
• CS: Applied Computer Science for Designers (includes Lab)
• GAT: Interactive Narrative and Character Creation (includes Lab)
• GAM: Game Project Lab

Prerequisites:

• No prior experience or knowledge is required but Participants must be entering their Junior or Senior year of high school, or have graduated high school within the last 18 months. 

Schedule:

• Each day, students will take 2 academic courses (9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Pacific time, 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Pacific time), plus the game project studio in the afternoons (2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Pacific time).

Technical Requirements:

Students must have access to a computer as well as additional hardware and software. Some programs or courses may indicate additional technology requirements, and not all programs are Mac compatible.

• Windows PC or Mac computer
• Display with minimum resolution of 1024 x 768. While it is not mandatory, it is recommended to have a second monitor connected to the computer to extend the desktop. This allows the student to more easily follow what the instructor is demonstrating while concurrently being able to see the software environment that the student is working within.
• Headset with microphone
• Three-button mouse
• Broadband internet connection
• Current, major internet browser (Chrome, Firefox)
• Latest version of Adobe Reader

Orientation Session:

Please note that in order to ensure that students have their home computers set up correctly for the class, and to orientate students to learning in an online environment, there will be a 30-minute scheduled orientation session that will run the week before the workshop is scheduled to start. Information about this will be sent to students by the instructor the week before the start of the workshop.