Game Dev Fundamentals (Online)

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.

Module 2: ENVIRONMENT CONCEPT ART

Key skills:
Perspective
Composition 1
Environment Design
Environment Storytelling
Final Rendering – materials, lighting, details.

Module 3: ILLUSTRATION AND DIGITAL PAINTING

Key skills:
Explorational Sketches
Visual Storytelling
Composition 2
Rendering Lighting
Rendering Materials

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

Module 3: ANIMATION / LIGHTING
Lectures duration: 4-6 hours; Showcase sessions: 1

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