Lecturing Game Maker?

Hey guys,

I had a small idea this morning that seems to be snowballing.

Yoyogames' Game maker is a widely used tool, not so much for full on projects but many studios use it for its awesome ability for rapid prototyping. After spending most of my morning digging researching more about it, they do not physically have a set syllabus nor an "official" teaching license for the software.

I myself have been using Game Maker for a number of years, and I am fairly confident in my knowledge of the software package. I feel that it would be beneficial to teenagers/students who are interested in making games, but do not have the required knowledge to make a decision if its a career path they would be interested in. The course could focus on the process of building games, more than the theory behind it.

Although Game Maker has fallen behind technologically, its still gives a better breakdown of the process involved in creating a game than Unity does (in my opinion). Students would make the shift from drag and drop code to writing your own code much easier.

Do you guys think that a part time course would be beneficial to these students, as a quick and easy crash course into game design? Or do you think something like this would have no place since Universities have started full time courses?


Comments

  • @duncanbellsa: I've been talking to Lindsay from Umonya (gewgle thems!) about GM courses and getting stuff into schools. If you have the time to put together a proper course, I'm sure she'd be more than keen :)

    I've volunteered my old GM in pictures stuff already, which I've been updating for UCT over the years as well. I just don't have the time to run/build/spec a complete course.
  • This sounds totally awesome.
  • edited
    @dislekcia, Yeah, part of what got my thinking cap going was your lectures to the students in cape town. Could you drop me a mail with her email address? duncanbellsa [at] gmail [dot] com

    I just think that there is a large gap where a "bridging" course could be taken, a sort of crash course into the simpler mechanics of game design.

    My only concern is I am not qualified in any way to lecture any subject, although I would be more than happy to. I am assuming Umonya would be able to organise the prep for it and such?

    I would be happy to write the course, and be happy to deliver it. I just have no clue as to how to go about it.
  • Hey guys I have also been throwing around the idea of running some "Learn to make a game" lessons. Was thinking of using http://craftyjs.github.com/. I would love to chat to you guys about your ideas. I have prior experience teaching Computer Science and Game Development with XNA. Send me a message if this sounds interesting.
  • I think this would be an excellent idea. A lot of people are unaware of the software that's available to them for making games.

    You'll probably find that artists that aren't "technically minded" would be keen on this if people know about it.
  • edited
    EDIT: Made new topic with proper headline :)
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