Open house introduces new game design degree
Students ranging from seniors active in IU’s Hoosier Games student-run game development group to recently arrived freshmen exploring majors gathered Tuesday evening to learn more about their shared passion: games.
This summer, the school gained approval for a new Bachelor of Science in Game Design degree, and program director Ted Castronova organized an open house to make sure anyone interested knows the details.
In addition to the nuts and bolts of the courses and experiences, “I want people to know is that we are moving into a great new space,” Castronova said.
Franklin Hall, the future home of The Media School, will include a Game Lab complete with equipment and software for designers. Renovations won’t be completed until next summer, so game design classes will continue to be offered at the Radio and Television Building and Union Street Center.
Castronova and other game design instructors chatted with students. Along with freshmen, some current Media School students attended to learn more about the degree. Game design had been taught in the former Department of Telecommunications, but no bachelor’s degree was available.
“Once I found out about the major, I was all for that,” said junior Dakota Hotchkiss, who just switched his path to pursue the new B.S.
He is a member of Hoosier Games, launched several years ago to allow game design fans to collaborate and learn as a group. He also already is enrolled in courses required for the degree.
Senior Nathan Abbott is taking MSCH-G 460 Game Workshop II with lecturer Will Emigh. He said he and his classmates will have the opportunity to design a fully functioning game.
Game design: Another form of storytelling
Ted Castronova, Chair, Media Arts and Production
So my involvement with the game design Bachelor of Science degree is I’m the director. The program is designed around a student who wants to work in the game industry.
Video shows students working on games at computers.
OK so first and foremost, we want to make sure that our students know everything they need to become a leader in the game industry, so that means exposure to things like audio programming, digital art, you know, design, writing, business, all those things are covered. So we want a student who wants that set of skills. What you need coming in is a good work ethic, right, we don’t assume that people know any programming or that they’ve played a lot of games.
Students play games on computers in a lab.
We’ve had students making games in teams of like six to eight people, and these games have appeared on X-Box Live and on Kongregate. What’s cool about Indiana is that we are rock solid in all these other areas. We have a world-class music school, imagine combining game audio and training at the Jacobs School, the school of art, it just goes on and on. It’s just, it would be a wonderful place to to light your intellectual fire and really build an interesting career. What do you have to do? Come to Indiana. The door is open, just come and sign up. You know, we’re, we’re trying to create a culture that’s very open and friendly, so people who aren’t necessarily gamers, you know, can feel very confident.
Produced by Jonathan Goethals, BA ’15 Music by Bensound.com