Photo by Carol A. Mellow

Sal Romano and Lisa Ferraro playing DDR (Dance, Dance, Revolution). Jason Lazar in the background playing a MMORPG (massive multi-player online role player game) on his computer.


“Gaming is now only starting to be recognized as an academic field”

—Professor Steve Schwarz



Dance, Dance, Revolution (aka: DDR) screen as played on a computer.

Who Are The Game-Players?

Everyday they gather around personal computers, consoles or mobile gaming devices whenever and wherever they can.
They cheer each other on, introducing each other to new challenges and encouraging each other to do better. Who are they? They are digital gamers! They are the generation that has grown up savvy in the ways of digital gaming, this generation’s means of social interaction and community.

At Raritan Valley Community College, a group of students is drawn together by an interest in games of every genre.
“We get together every Monday through Thursday right here in this lounge (the Cybercafé) to play games” said Jason Lazar.

Lazar, an English major, is passionate about “City of Heroes,” which is a massive multi-player online role-player game (also called MMORPG). “I love immersive role playing,” Lazar said. “I like this game because I can adopt a different persona from who I really am. I get to choose from many different characteristics, right down to speaking with an accent.”

Lazar, who plays games between three and six hours a day, said he wasn’t interested in game development of design, but said his strength is in writing. “I think that I would be better at developing a storyline and script writing -- anything to do with the content,” he said.

Lisa Ferraro is a business major who loves to play “DDR,” or “Dance, Dance Revolution.” “I like this game because I use it for exercise while having fun,” she said. “It gives you a really good workout. You can purchase a pad that you dance on. The pad goes down on the floor and you follow the (computer-generated) movements with your feet.” The movements are converted into a score. You can exercise for the fun of it, compete against your own score or compete against others.

Ferraro also said she has no interest in developing games; she just likes to play. But Malachi Brantley is very interested in the new program offering at RVCC. He is liberal arts major who wants to transfer to Bloomfield College to double major in game design and game programming. “I play from six to ten hours a day, and I do it all for research. I need to analyze the games. I need to know what makes a good game and what makes a bad game. My favorite games are “Viewtiful,” an adventure game; “Final Fantasy 12,” a role playing game; and “Halo” for Xbox, which is a shooters game,” he said. “I know what I want to do: I want to develop and sell games. I already have a business partner, and the name of our company is 8 Bit Knights.”

 

In the “Game” with New Degree Programs

By Carol A. Mellow

“Games” are traditionally thought of as something people participate in for enjoyment and camaraderie, but digital games are no longer just a way to pass the time and have fun. Training simulations require the same programming and design skills used in making games, and games become “meaningful play” when written to train medical personnel and police or even prepare pilots through flight simulation.

Still, said Steve Schwarz, a professor at Raritan Valley Community College, “Gaming is now only starting to be recognized as an academic field.”

Starting in 2007, RVCC students will be able to enroll in two new degree programs being offered in gaming. The Computer Science Department has designed a 63-credit program in game development that leads to an A.A.S degree and has an emphasis on programming, and the Art Department is designing a program in game graphics and animation, leading to an A.F.A. and transfer to a four-year program. The program should be offered in the fall, and emphasis will be on developing artists for game design.

Digital games are a big business and the passion for them has created quite a stir in the hallowed halls of academia. According to a study by ABI Research, total sales of games and software are projected to reach $65.9 billion by 2011. Because of the drop of enrollment in traditional computer science programs and phenomenal growth in the gaming industry, colleges and universities have responded by including game tracks in their computer science offerings.

“We (RVCC) found out about some other schools in the state with a game degree program,” said Professor Schwarz. “I went around and visited different colleges that offered the programs to talk to them, to see what books they used and what courses they offered. A lot of the push (to offer degrees in the gaming area) came from the vice president’s office. Constance Mierendorf was aware of the importance of having such a degree program, and so she pushed heavily for it. She wanted to get this program up and running, which is why we will be offering the (game development) program in the spring of 2007.”

The game-development track is a career program for now. “Ultimately down the road, I see us developing articulation agreements with four-year schools and then making it a transfer program,” Schwarz said.

The professor spent about a year looking at other programs all over the country, taking the best parts and tweaking the curriculum. This past summer, Schwarz developed the content and outlines for four new courses: Fundamentals of Game Design, Programming for Game Developers, Advanced Game Design and Development, and Game Audio and Video.

RVCC students can now register for the Fundamentals of Game Development, which is the first of the new courses being offered.

In this course, students start with the basics. They not only get a chance to play games, but also to be immersed in how games are made. They are expected to objectively analyze different types of games, critique their strengths and weaknesses, develop an understanding of the art of game design, and learn how to create games full of rich characters and settings.

The second new course, Programming for Game Developers, is offered in the third semester. This course builds on the Object Oriented Programming course by using the C++ programming language specifically for developing games. Students will use the Torque game engine and TorqueScript to create 3-D games and will become adept with using a cross platform software interface (Open GL) for dealing with graphics and models.

The third and fourth courses are offered in the fourth semester. In Game Audio and Video, students will learn about sound integration and video effects, how character development is affected and how audio/video enhances game play by incorporating the captured sound and action segments into games.

Advanced Game Design and Development is the capstone course where students will take on the role of designer/developer and work with artists in the Game Graphics and Animation degree program to create a working computer/video game. This project will visually demonstrate their skills and can be used when job hunting.

After completing the game-development degree, students will be prepared for entry level jobs in programming, developing, designing or testing of games and salaries up to $55,000, according to a recent article in a local daily.

Digital gamers can finally earn something other than a scolding about spending too much time playing games. Their passion can earn them a degree, job satisfaction for doing something they love and a salary to boot.

 

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