Gaming and Simulation Development Jason Witherell April 12, 2007

Who is this Guy? I teach in the Digital Gaming & Simulation major at Shawnee State University (Portsmouth). I received my Master’s Degree in Computer Animation from OSU. I love playing games and have been making them/playing them for 20+ years.

What is Game Development? Game Or Simulation Engineering Art Music Writing Software Engineers Mathematicians Theoretical Computer Scientists “Traditional” Artists 3D/2D Modelers 3D/2D Animators Composers Sound FX creators Business Lawyers Public Relations Accountants Publishers Managers Creative writers Dialogue writers Historians Testers Doctors Military Personnel Auto Makers …

What Game Development Is NOT All about playing games. –OK, we do some of the time –But you have to enjoy the process more than playing them. Making levels for games –We make our own new games! Just about making games. –Medical simulations –Military training

Game Development is Fun! A very rewarding career Can be financially rewarding –Average Salary for programmers: $80,000 –Average Salary for Artists: $65,000 –Average Salary for Business: $95,000 –(Keep in mind many of these are in Texas, California, Oregon: higher cost-of-living) You get to design the next cool game! Game development is a quickly growing industry. –($9.9 Billion in 2004) –Makes more than the book and movie industry ($5.2B, $9.4B) –Getting close to the music industry ($10.7B) –Has many serious (medical, military, manufacturing) applications too.

Game Development is Hard Work! College (and graduate school) certainly help. You have to love problem-solving and research and reading. You sometimes put in very long hours. It’s not enough to just love playing games – you have to enjoy the subtle details. You have to learn a lot of things that seem boring at first.

What does a Game Developer do? 2D/3D Modelling Research Programming Testing and Debugging Meetings

So What do I need to study now? Math –Similar problem-solving skills in Development –We use a lot of trig, geometry, calculus and physics: Also: –music, art, english, history, etc. –The more varied your background, the better games you can create!

A Quick Example (if we have time…) The start of a space invaders game Written in Python Uses two sprites I already designed. Game development is like this (but on a lot bigger scale)

More info Info on the handout Shawnee State – me Start making your own games (start small… ) THANK YOU!!