Our Game Dev Fundamentals Online program focuses on the different means of storytelling and visual art skills. From game design to human and animal anatomy, concept art, 3D modelling and sets and character design.
All lecturers are working professionals with a proven track record.
Support and guidance in the process of creating or improving individual portfolios is an important part of the process.
Video game design is the process of designing the content and rules of video games. Game design creates goals, rules and challenges to define a game that produces desirable interactions among its participants and, possibly, spectators.
The course teaches the students methods that channel their creativity into realizable game design.
Module 1: DESIGN PRIORITIES, PROCESSES AND DOCUMENTATION
Students will be introduced to the key artistic and technical principles behind the game design process, get familiar with the different approaches to it and learn the fundamental importance of the documentation.
Key skills: Role and purpose of the game designer The leading factor during design Game Pillar Structure Top down/Bottom up, Game focused/Player focused approach Documentation methods Game pitch/Creative brief/Design document/Game blueprint
Module 2: DESIGN PRINCIPLES, GAME SYSTEMS AND MECHANICS
Students will be introduced to the key principles and parameters of the player oriented design, gain precious insights into the different game systems and mechanics and learn how to create, classify and use different game elements.
Key skills: Game mechanics Game systems Game pillars Creating, classifying and usage of game elements
Module 3: LEVEL DESIGN AND BUILDING
Students will be introduced to Level design as a strongly correlated and complementary discipline to the game design. Starting from the planning and usage of all elements and features of the game design in level building all the way to the actual paper prototype, this module is a perfect round-up of the gained knowledge.
Key skills: Planning and using game elements in Level design The mini-loop The game blueprint Camera and point of view 5 Stages of mechanic introduction Paper prototyping
Module 4: DIFFICULTY CONTROL, REWARDS AND SCORING
Successful games have quite a few things in common, but the ability to make players want to come back for more is among the most significant similarities. Understating the effects of different rewards and scoring schemes in games, can be crucial to creating a great and compelling player experience.
Key skills: Calculating Difficulty Difficulty Progression Qualitative vs. Quantitative difficulty control Purpose of rewards Types of rewards Scoring
The program further includes:
Individual 1v1 consultations with the tutors
Virtual tours of some of the large game studios in the country
Guest lectures
Access to the video lectures and most materials from Concept art and 3D Modelling
Modern video games are getting more and more visually stunning!
The course will start with visual storytelling, like character and environment design, and continue with ideas for lighting. The collaboration dynamics between the Art team and other dev teams is specifically outlined throughout the course.
Module 1: CHARACTER CONCEPT ART
Key skills: Human and Animal Anatomy Character Pose Sketches Character Designs Refining the concepts – telling the character story Final rendering – materials, details.
This is where the passion for video games and art find a meeting ground and the designs are brought to life. Modeling for game and game engines, is a different animal than modeling for films, because of the polygon budget present in any game development process. Games are rendered in real time which means that you need to master the art of modeling great, compelling characters on a limited polygon count. Participants will be introduced to different tools essential for creating various materials and textures as well as the most commonly used sculpting programs in the industry. All that can be a bit overwhelming at first, but don’t worry, you will have excellent professionals to lead the way.
Module 1: 3D ENVIRONMENT ART FUNDAMENTALS Lectures duration: 18-20 hours; Feedback sessions: 5-8
Students will be introduced to the key artistic and technical principles behind the 3D environment art, get familiar with the specifics of the pipeline and the typical structure of an environment art project.
Key skills: Blockout modelling Materials and textures UVs – how to unwrap env. models Different sorts of surfaces Lighting an environment Rendering options
Module 2: 3D CHARACTER ART FUNDAMENTALS Lectures duration: 32-35 hours; Feedback sessions: 10-12
Students will be introduced to the key artistic and technical principles behind the 3D character art and get familiar with the key software solutions and tools used by industry professionals while creating their own portfolio-ready 3d character from scratch.
Key skills: 3D Modelling in Zbrush Stylised vs. detailed characters Clothes, Inventory, Weapons, Accessories Detailing and finishing with polypaint Retopology and UV unwrapping in Zbrush and 3DsMax Creating texturing maps in Substance painter Textures baking in Substance painter Texturing your own 3d characters
Students will be able to gain valuable insights into the animation process, which typically picks off where Character modelling ends. Understanding the specifics of the next stage in the game dev pipeline is crucial for better and more productive workflows.
Key skills: Principles of animation Character rigs Animation cycles
The program further includes:
Individual 1v1 consultations with the tutors
Virtual tours of some of the large game studios in the country
Guest lectures
Access to the video lectures and most materials from Game Design and Concept art
Required minimum technical requirements of your devices:
CPU: Intel or AMD processor with 64-bit support, 2 GHz or faster. RAM: 8 GB. GPU: AMID’s NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 or RX 470 Mechanical hard disk: (preferably SSD) Additional accessories: Mouse, trackpad or pen + drawing tablet Network: constant connection to the Internet OS: 64-bit Windows 7 SP1
