Summer Industry Course Gives Visualization Students A View Of Life In Gaming Industry
Armed with the guidance of faculty and industry professionals, visualization students tackled the challenge of creating fully playable video games in just 10 weeks over the summer.
Modeled after the Summer Industry Course for animation, the game development course afforded students the opportunity to work in a fast-paced, cooperative environment that resembles a career in the industry.
In addition to faculty expertise by André Thomas, associate professor of the practice, and Mason Smith, instructional assistant professor, Bluepoint Games representatives provided an industry perspective. The Austin-based, Sony-owned game development company is known for games including “Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection,” “God of War Collection” and “Demon’s Souls.”
Bluepoint employees served as mentors, making weekly visits to teach students about their roles. They were also available remotely through a Discord server to help students beyond the in-class sessions.
“I wanted to take a more vested interest in making sure that students can see there are industry professionals that do care about them, and care about their success and are invested in them,” said Myriah Higgins, Bluepoint senior lighting artist.
Undergraduate and graduate students submitted portfolios and demo reels to be considered. Smith said undergraduate participants — who outnumbered the graduate students in the course — earned a rare chance to make early connections.
“Our students have a huge opportunity here to get a level of mentorship and face time with industry professionals that not every game program has,” he said.
Getting Started
Before the course began, students were sorted into four teams of five, arranged by experience, artistic and technical skill. The teams met to prepare two game ideas — using the course’s overall theme of “Monsters?” — to pitch on the first day of class. Smith and Thomas provided feedback on the pitches and how to improve the concepts.
“One of the key things is learning how to work with people on projects that may not have been their idea,” Thomas said. “We’re all really excited working on our own idea, but if it’s somebody else’s idea, can I buy into it, be part of a team and be productive? Because that’s how industry works. They’re really learning the process of game development.”
As the students got to work, they assumed roles of game developers including character modeler, rigging artist, lighting artist, sound engineer and level designer. Most had to take on more than one specialty due to the limitations of team size.
Abigail Blevins, senior visualization major, served as project manager and 3D lead, but also had to act as the lighting artist.
“I wanted to be a 3D lead and project manager because I’ve done those before and I’m more well-versed in them,” Blevins said. “I’ve done lighting before, but it turned out terribly. Funnily enough, lighting is probably my favorite thing I’ve worked on this time around.”
Students worked closely with Bluepoint mentors that share those specializations. On Wednesdays, the visiting mentor and the students went on lunch outings to discuss careers and experiences in a less formal setting.
Emilie Sangerhausen, senior visualization major, said the mentors helped her realize she didn’t have to choose one of her interests over another.
“Before I got to talk to character artists from BluePoint, I was iffy about if I wanted to do character sculpting or concept art,” Sangerhausen said. “Character art kind of does all of it. I was really glad to learn that.”
The class met weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon, but students typically stayed beyond class hours, treating the course as a full-time job and contributing roughly 40 hours per week.
At the end of each week, students presented their progress to the professors and visiting mentor. These discussions served to keep the students on track, progressing at an even pace throughout the summer.
Team members asked peers to play the games throughout the process to provide feedback including likes and dislikes, ease of gameplay and overall enjoyment.
Making ‘Monsters’
The theme inspired a range of game concepts from dark to whimsical. A small demon and an elderly female sheep character star in a game created by Cesar “CJ” Loya Jr, Izzy Rollo, Hayden Harsh, Kaylyn Luna and Emmalie Hall. The sheep wishes to be reunited with her family and must conduct a ritual to return the demon to its full form.
Levels take place in daytime, dusk and night. Players must collect ingredients from around the farm for the ritual by staying within the shadows to avoid contact with light.
“In other games, and in general, the human eye is attracted to light and wants to go to light,” Loya said. “So it’s putting the twist into … ‘OK, now you’ve got to go into shadow instead.’”
The game features an antagonist — an exorcist — who sets light traps during the final level. The game is won when the exorcist is defeated, and the final ingredient is returned to the sheep character. She conducts the ritual, returning the demon to its full form. It then steals her soul, reuniting her with her family in an unexpected way.
“Animal Crossing” inspired a game by Sangerhausen, Bria Peters, Dylan Florence, Hans Sapo and Nick Martinez. Players attempt to provide a positive experience for the attendees of a medieval town festival, taking care of a blacksmith, baker and a child who keeps losing his balloons.
Each character has a patience meter. When a task takes too long for players to complete, the patience meter runs down. As the tasks are completed, the meter fills back up.
For the blacksmith, the player must man the forge. The baker sends the player to collect ingredients to make pastries. For the child, the player must travel around the map to retrieve balloons.
In a game created by Spencer Bryant, Leah George, Ethan Laird, Favour Ojuade and Xingling Xu, players must outsmart a demon from the perspective of a small child.
“Our concept essentially is ‘Home Alone’ if you accidentally summoned a demon,” Bryant said. “The main game play will be collecting items, building traps and tricking the demon so that eventually you can banish it again.”
The idea of human monsters is explored in a game by Blevins, Jay Schaeffer, Nandini Janapati, Jocelyn Rodriguez and Rhiannon Duba. Players take on the role of a father moving to an old house with his family and renovating it.
The character experiences strange phenomenon, and the tasks become more sinister. He eventually turns on his own family. He must also clean up evidence and avoid getting caught by visitors and house inspectors.
“One of the things that the mentors really liked about our game is that it was unavoidable that you were the monster in this situation,” Blevins said. “There was no redemption arc or anything like that. It was just you’re a monster and you’re doing horrible things.”
Future benefits
At the end of the summer, students have complete games that have been tested and are ready for entry into competitions and festivals, Thomas said. They will understand the game development process and have an idea of what a real working environment is like.
“Ideally, by the end, they come out and can be hired in the games industry where they’ll find out this is not that different to what they just learned,” Thomas said.
Just as the students observe and learn from the experts, the mentors get an early look at students as prospective employees. Smith calls it a “10-week recruiting session” to see how students work together and respond to challenges, deadlines and stress.
“Not only are Bluepoint’s eyes on this class, but Sony’s eyes are on this class, and not every game program gets that kind of attention from such a major technology company,” Smith said. “It’s a huge opportunity, and I’m really excited for these students because this is the first time that we’ve had a company like Sony excited to see the outcome of these students’ work.”
Higgins emphasized the importance of the connections made between students and mentors, saying she hopes it helps students find confidence as they begin their careers.
“I want to make myself available to the students,” Higgins said. “For me, this doesn’t end when the class ends. I’m here for them if they want feedback or mentorship.”
Top photo: Students consult with André Thomas, associate professor of the practice, during the Summer Industry Course for game development. Photo by Laura McKenzie/Texas A&M University Division of Marketing & Communications.
