Have you ever played through a video game and thought, “If I were the designer, this game would be completely different”? Well, now you can be.
Join Joseph Van De Walker and James Cunningham, the standing sub-committee on UDK development, for their game designs workshop based on the UDK.
UDK stands for Unreal Development Kit and is the “free edition of Unreal Engine 3 that provides access to the award-winning 3-D game engine and professional toolset used in blockbuster video game development, architectural visualization, mobile game development, 3-D rendering, digital films, and more,” according to the official UDK website, www.unrealengine.com/udk/.
Walker and Cunningham started these workshops eight weeks before the end of last semester and had approximately 12 students show up consistently.
“One day James was asking, ‘Would there be interest in putting people together, doing these workshops, and setting aside some time and taking all this information that’s free to learn and bringing people together?’” Van De Walker said. “And that’s where James came in by setting that up.”
Each workshop takes place Fridays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. or longer, depending on if anyone needs some extra explaining.
“Some tutorials go for as long as two hours,” Walker said. The first thing everyone does is install the software to their computers.
“Before we do the workshop, I watch the tutorials myself so I can know what’s going to happen to them,” he said.
He then displays the tutorial on the projector to be watched as a group.
You can probably find everything you need to do it on your own, but why waste all that time and effort to do it alone when you could do it with a group of others all working toward the same goal? They supply you with everything you need, so you don’t have to go through the trouble of finding it. And if you’re confused, don’t worry.
“If we have a question about what they’re doing, or someone else has a question, we stop,” Cunningham said. “And if we don’t know the answer, we’ll figure it out.”
The workshop isn’t entirely taught from the UDK tutorials.
“Some of the stuff we look up on YouTube,” Walker said. “Autodesk has its own YouTube page and lessons. Some of them are quite useful.”
Through one semester of tutorials, you should be able to, as a group, make your own video game.
“The ultimate goal is to create an actual video game,” Walker said. “But to get there is through teaching students what they need to know about positions in the video game industry, specifically about the software we’re using, the Unreal Development Kit.”
Don’t think you’re restricted to just using the Unreal Development Kit, though. You can use different programs to create various aspects, such as 3-D modeling, textures and sounds, and “bring them all in to create an interactive environment within the software.”
“We teach students these skills within the software and then break them apart and highlight their abilities in different roles in the design of a video game.” Walker said.
”You have this idea about, ‘I love video games, I want to make them’ and that’s great,” Cunningham said. “But it’s hard to realize until you’re really into it how the pipeline of someone having an idea for a game, to the game works. There are so many steps and different positions in there, and all of them are very cool in their own way, so it’s tricky to realize there are really great jobs in very specific roles that you would never have thought of.”
Not only would creating your own video game feel good, and give you a sense of accomplishment, it will also attract the attention of video game industries looking to hire.
“Being able to create a finished game with as many people able to contribute as possible will look incredibly good on everyone’s résumé and portfolio because that’s really what the video game industry is all about,” Walker said. “You can say you have a degree, but it’s not until you take the initiative to do the workshops that highlights your abilities instead of just saying you did it.”
Or as Cunningham said, “Your résumé will get you in the door, maybe, but it’s your demo that will get you a job.”
Not just those interested in gaming are allowed to join the workshops; anyone is allowed to participate.
“I sent out a bunch of emails to other programs, and though I haven’t had a follow-up from some of them, Professor Sipos of Interior Design got back to me and was really hopeful,” Walker said.
“It’s going to be really nice to have some interior design people working in this group on video game design because to have someone with the knowledge of spatial placement will help in that a lot of the video game stuff is about props.”
They’re also hopeful to have students from other schools join them for their tutorials.
“We want to talk to University of Michigan students and see if they would be interested in coming in,” Cunningham said. “It would be nice to have outside schools in the workshop.”
“At the very end of it, there’s no reason why the organization can’t be producing a game a semester,” Cunningham said. “I think a lot of people would be excited to be a part of that.”
The workshops will cost $5 per lesson for anyone who isn’t a simulation, animation and gaming major, and will take place in room 133 in Sill Hall. The workshops are Learning Beyond the Classroom approved, and will get you three credits for doing it.
