Formally Learning Games Design.
So as some of you already know I am studying Games Design at UCT.
One thing which strikes me as interesting about our industry is how the teaching of it differs so much from the teaching of similar entertainment industries such as Books or Movies.
Lets look at how I see it (This is my opinion at least):
The basic skills required to write a book are very simple and taught to a person very early on. From a purely technical perspective a seven year old could write a book, not a very good book, but technically they could.
The same idea applies to Film, from a technical aspect, anyone who can pick up their smart phone and click record can make a movie, not a very good movie, but they still can make a movie. (obviously there are more advanced film techniques but they, like more advanced coding techniques, are not required to make a film)
With these two mediums in mind if we look at University level education in both fields. The institutions study great books and films and attempt to teach people not HOW to write books or HOW to film movies from a basic level but rather HOW to make great movies and books.
If we look at Games Design courses, a lot of them are teaching students technically HOW to code games, on a basic level, not necessarily great games, but rather equipping the student with the basic skills of how to make a game (ergo programming). Now I find these skills invaluable and am LOVING my course. However I really believe that their is an opening at educational institutes for people to Lecture on the design of games as opposed to only the purely technical aspects. I recently watched a University lecture by Jonathan Blow on the design of games and couldn't help but find myself longing for such a course at UCT.
I just bring up the topic of discussion as this is what was on my mind today, nothing super pressing or important, just rather and interesting observation :)
I would give an arm and a leg to hear @BlackShipsFilltheSky or any of the QCF guys lecture about the design of games!!
On that note this is why I find this community so valuable to the community of South African games designers, I have learned more from the community meet ups which I have attended then months spent programmer or a full semester of lectures. Thanks :P
Would love to read your guys thoughts on the matter :)
One thing which strikes me as interesting about our industry is how the teaching of it differs so much from the teaching of similar entertainment industries such as Books or Movies.
Lets look at how I see it (This is my opinion at least):
The basic skills required to write a book are very simple and taught to a person very early on. From a purely technical perspective a seven year old could write a book, not a very good book, but technically they could.
The same idea applies to Film, from a technical aspect, anyone who can pick up their smart phone and click record can make a movie, not a very good movie, but they still can make a movie. (obviously there are more advanced film techniques but they, like more advanced coding techniques, are not required to make a film)
With these two mediums in mind if we look at University level education in both fields. The institutions study great books and films and attempt to teach people not HOW to write books or HOW to film movies from a basic level but rather HOW to make great movies and books.
If we look at Games Design courses, a lot of them are teaching students technically HOW to code games, on a basic level, not necessarily great games, but rather equipping the student with the basic skills of how to make a game (ergo programming). Now I find these skills invaluable and am LOVING my course. However I really believe that their is an opening at educational institutes for people to Lecture on the design of games as opposed to only the purely technical aspects. I recently watched a University lecture by Jonathan Blow on the design of games and couldn't help but find myself longing for such a course at UCT.
I just bring up the topic of discussion as this is what was on my mind today, nothing super pressing or important, just rather and interesting observation :)
I would give an arm and a leg to hear @BlackShipsFilltheSky or any of the QCF guys lecture about the design of games!!
On that note this is why I find this community so valuable to the community of South African games designers, I have learned more from the community meet ups which I have attended then months spent programmer or a full semester of lectures. Thanks :P
Would love to read your guys thoughts on the matter :)
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There are just so many different variables. Writing a story for a game is SO different from writing a story for any other medium. The 3 act structure of a film script doesn't work, the player motivations aren't the same as films or literature...and all of these things tie into game mechanics.
Personally I want to tell games that have rather immersive worlds and stories, and (perhaps to a fault) I'm not really terribly interested in clever game mechanics. For this reason, teaching me 'game design' would be completely different to teaching someone else who has a different focus.
So...not sure I've actually answered anything, but just some food for thought. Perhaps some else can be a little more articulate than me!
I have spoken to the lecturers at UCT about this many, many times and it always boils down to the fact that at UCT the program has to be science-based. So the emphasis is on general programming, algorithms, graphics etc. for games and less on design. This is why they recently changed the major to "game development" rather than the previous "game design". UCT tries pretty hard to cater for everything but at the moment the lecturing does have a bit of a AAA-engine-building feel to it, rather than a general/indie style game design feel. However, I know that other courses out there are a little more design oriented, namely the course at Wits and other small colleges. UCT are trying to make it similar these days by partnering with Varsity Colleges animators in the 3rd year.
The short of it is that UCT and other Universities can't give that type of focused, design-oriented program that a specialised college could. This is why we are really trying to get the students onto this forum and to come to the community meetings (and now this workshop), as thats where all the design oriented questions are being discussed and can they be a great additional source of information to the degree.
So overall I agree I think there is definitely room for design type courses at UCT, but there are other ways of getting that kind of information (if only the students would respond to my invites!!!).
**rant over**
[Edit:] Some good news is that the 3rd year course will probably be moving over to Unity3D next year (from XNA), which will please all the Indie devs out there.
This is one of the strong arguments for making board games and using pre-made engines -- to be able to address game design as soon as possible.
The way I've often heard it taught in art (and then repeated by the dude from Spryfox) is that levels of mastery go like this:
- Apprentice: At this point, you're a total noob. Copy master paintings. Copy photographs. Copy life. At this point you're just getting used to learning what your tools do; to fill your mind with a vocabulary to draw from for when you do your own creative work; and for familiarising yourself with how people much better than you solved their problems. What's also great about copying things is that you've got something to measure yourself against. When you get lost, or don't know why something isn't working, there's something to give some direction. It's not about creating "your own" thing: it's about learning the skills.
- Journeyman: Here, you pretty much know what's going on, and you create your own stuff by drawing from the library you've built up from past experiences copying stuff. You're not creating anything new, nothing world-changing, but different enough that you're not a plagiarising bastard. According to David Edery (at least, I think it was him, the guy from Spryfox), most working professionals fall under this category.
- Master: Here, you've built up enough skill observing the world around you and what other people do that you can start to see the paths they haven't travelled or weren't able to see. When you create something, you can create something fresh, create an experience nobody has seen before, and have the skill to execute on it.
I've yet to apply it to game design, as my focus has predominantly been art, but I think it'd fit pretty well. What if the game project that I set myself was to create hundreds of clones, of many different types games, not to look pretty, not to be optimized or anything, but simply to have the right "feel"? To get the numbers and timings and input right. And for just the first tiny section of a game -- just enough that the core is there. And then move on and making something else asap.I feel as if a lot of our first games suck in terms of whether things feel right because we're working blindly, without first copying those much better than us. Kind of like the artist who starts out drawing stuff for the fun of it, and puts his anthro drawings on DeviantArt. It may make him happy, and he may improve (even just a little) with each drawing, and his friends may encourage him, but the chances of his reaching a point where people are willing to pay him to do it are pretty slim.
Game design(in my opinion) is best learned through doing. Actually trying to create a game and solving the problems that come up in it's design is what teaches you how to design games really fast. The best part is you can use the same skills you learned when you were 7(writing). Tabletop/Board/Card games have written rule sets that don't need any special skills and although the game design is slightly different from video games it's a great way to learn game design. So start building analog games and post the games here for feedback. It's harder to give feedback on analog games in a forum format but you can also take a copy of the game to the meetups and get some feedback there.
That's not to say you shouldn't read or watch talks about it. I also would love to see courses being taught in it, but you don't have to wait for someone else to start learning. :)
I realize that what you are talking about is the teaching design courses/classes, but just these questions already means we're getting there. It means the community is thinking about how we can do these necessary things, which to me is awesome!
[quote = @atomicdomb]With these two mediums in mind if we look at University level education in both fields. The institutions study great books and films and attempt to teach people not HOW to write books or HOW to film movies from a basic level but rather HOW to make great movies and books.[/quote]
Recently @Bensonance started an initiative at the Jo'Burg meet where he does a design breakdown of a game in about 15 minutes and we discuss why he's wrong(:P). It's a great exercise in game design, especially for the person doing the breakdown.
The same holds for any martial art, any sport, any form of expressiveness available to humankind.
The logic is simple: Studying the existing greats is good, it can help you understand what options are available to you in your own endeavors. But you'll only ever learn about implementation by doing. The first step is implementing what other people did/used in order to build familiarity. Then you move on to asking questions specifically about implementation. Eventually, you have your own ideas about expression once your implementation skills are confident. (Yes, that parallel's the Novice, Journeyman, Master levels that Daniel Cook talked about - I think it was him, not Edery)
So how do you progress along that track the fastest? Well, I think my own solution to that problem is self-evident ;)
I'm also an advocate of game design learnt from practice. I think Game Design skills could be taught well in an environment like UCT if the course had a lot of practical alongside Game Design theory/talks and having lecturers to guide and give feedback (but of course this isn't possible at the moment as @creative630 said).
I've got a bit of a rant about teaching Game Design which goes a bit like this:
I have reservations as to how well game design theory can be taught without a lot of practical. (I don't think anyone anywhere is advocating all theory and zero practical)
I think game appreciation can be taught without the practical (and having good taste is definitely important). But, when you don't have a lot of experience, to understand how to implement something new you've been told, and to know whether you should implement it at all, I think you need to try it first. I think you need to test how that technique/mechanic/idea affects the experience, so that next time you think about including that technique/mechanic/idea you can predict it's results and make a meaningful decision.
Without a lot of practical experience any designer is going to make a ton of bad decisions regardless of how good their theory is. And expensive projects can't afford bad decisions.
[Edit, @Dislekcia's post ended up above mine, basically what he said]
@creative630 has been involved (with UCT) in holding jams. I think this is a GREAT move in the right direction. If they can't get the noodling around and experimenting with a ton of gameplay ideas in the course work, then facilitating and encouraging game jams is a decent second place. That's a huge compliment! And while I think I'd enjoy doing such a thing, it is a problem of time. I think QCF did do lecturing on Game Design at UCT in the past, I know they are SUPER busy right now, but maybe there are some possibilities in the future.
This is basically my ideal game design learning setup: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/130848/how_to_prototype_a_game_in_under_7_.php?print=1 (of course they had Jesse Schnell to lecture them and help guide the project)
If I could help something like that happen at UCT I'd be very happy.
I'd also really like to have more comps here on the forums. Again, time is the problem, but there's such a great learning opportunity in posing a game design problem and having a bunch of people trying to solve it in their unique ways (and everyone communicating and seeing the results).
I keep being disappointed when I do lecture though: I keep telling the students to turn every project they have into a game of some sort, to sign up at places like this forum and to post their prototypes and other efforts, yet almost none of them do... Even the ones that seem super keen on game development don't make their way through to places like MakeGames.
I really wish I knew why that was.
"The short of it is that UCT and other Universities can't give that type of focused, design-oriented program that a specialised college could."
I wouldn't say that 'other universities' don't give the focused, game design oriented program. UCT's game design is located in one of the best computer science faculties in the country, but that is where it is, and those are the constraints that govern it. That being said I truly believe that for people interested in the technology and software process UCT offers the best solution and I recommend applying there as well to all students applying here.
At Wits University we are in another boat all together. We offer two related degrees in game design, not game development at all. The focus is on design, in very much the tradition that you suggested in your first post.
The two degrees are hosed in different faculties, but do their game design major together.
The BEngSci (Digital Arts) is located in Information Engineering, where they do all of the standard engineering subjects: Maths, Physics, Mechanics, Software (C++), Electronics etc.
The BA (Digital Arts) is in the School of Arts, where students choose their own creative field: Writing, Composition, Animation/Drawing and also a general humanities subject: English, Psychology, Philosophy, Maths (yes we have BA's doing pure maths as a BA) etc.
In the Game Design major, we are therefore free to focus on the areas where the two come together: the production of games in the light of Game Design Principles.
To do this, as @Elyaradine suggests, we have an approach that uses analogue games and pre-made game engines: Game Maker and Unity.
In first year we study basic game design principles and apply these to the production of analogue games (mostly table top, but also physical games).
In second year we work in Game Maker, and in third and fourth year in Unity. As the years progress we move into more in depth game design and game studies as foundation.
In all of these courses the focus is on making games - lots and lots of games - with attention to game design exercises rather than on only the tech. All students are required to understand and be able to work within all areas: all code, all do basic graphics, all do basic sound, etc. Most, but not all, of these games are produced in groups. This allows us to also consider the production pipeline in the light of project management, technical communication and group dynamics.
In these courses we also study games in the tradition of the arts, like literature and film. We play games as set-works, have dedicated lecture time on them, analyse and critique them, as you would a book or a film. But, where in film studies you base your analysis in a firm understanding of cinematic language, in game studies you base it in a firm understanding of game design.
The curriculum development has been done in close consultation with leading international universities (MIT, Georgia tech, Brown mostly) and I am presenting a paper on the curriculum design and pedagogic approach at DiGRA at Georgia Tech in August.
That we are able to do this comes from a decade of planning and cooperation between two very different faculties.
It is not better or worse than what is offered at UCT, it is just different. As we work within different constraints, what we are able to teach is geared towards people with a different set of interests.
I don't mean to 'sell' Wits, I just want to make people aware of the fact that most of what this thread is suggesting is being done here in SA, and not only in smaller collages or diploma courses but also at a rather large University:
We focus on design - theoretically, and in practice.
We produce many, many games to cement what we do in theory.
We do game studies, analysis and critique.
We use analogue and pre-existing engines so that the tech gets out the way and we can focus on what makes a game, not only how to produce a game. (that being said all students learn to work in GML, C#, HTML and the Engineering students also work in C++)
I hope this helps.
Also to clarify, just because I had a rant about my game dev degree at UCT, does not mean I regret it or discourage people from taking it. I really enjoyed what we did, and I would not be in this community and making games if I did not :D
[Edit:] Also when I said I did not mean to imply Wits was a small college (obviously it isn't), just that it had a different program to UCT!
@dislekcia I think it is the same reason that people want to write books and sing but don't have blogs or do every possible gig they can. Real passion is hard to fake; and no matter how much you want to practice one of these glamorous professions, if you do not really love the core thing you have to do, you simply do not do enough of it. The harsh truth is that people that love making games do not really need to be told to make every project into a game or to take part in jams or find like-minded communities. They simply do it because it's part of who they are. And if you don't... it means you already did not make the cut for it.
@hermantulleken That is also something that we are keeping in mind. Very few people end up doing what they study, and Game Design will be no different. The most passionate will follow it through, but for the bulk of the students, we need to ensure that they are leaving with a broader education that will stand them in good stead where ever they end up. Games are a great way to teach software, animation etc, but also, and most importantly from this point of view, a good way to introduce system thinking, design principles applicable to many fields, critical analysis and engagement, and the ability to work in multi-disciplinary fields. We are getting quite a lot of attention from large software dev companies and advertising agencies who are interested in the potential of the courses to produce graduates who sit between the artistic, design and technology fields.
While this is not, and will never be, our core focus I think it is a good sign. Our focus is on building games, and preparing those crazy passionate few for this field.
@Dislekcia, To which students do you usually lecture? If it is not first years I would love to know the time and place of this lecture so that I can just crash it :P sounds fun :) I really agree with this point. I've been making (or at least trying to make) games since I was 14 and it's really taught me a lot and lead me to this community and to the course at UCT.
I would like to say thanks to everyone for their awesome responses to this post :P you have all given me something to think about :P Am really excited to get back to Cape Town (Am in Limpopo atm)
On Topic: I think there's a big difference between being taught the skills necessary to create a great game and being taught the skills necessary to design a great game. The first one is definitely what UCT offers - they're imbuing you with all the knowledge you would need to create a game, actually make it, much like learning to read and write essentially teaches you the skills you would need to write a book.
Naturally, this won't teach you how to design a great game nor how to write a great book. And practising writing code is much like practising writing - It's only going to get you so far. Hell, I've been writing for years (paid for for several of those) and I still marvel at the abilities of the great authors because I truly don't know how to design a great story.
The way I would say that you can learn great game design (or great story telling) without a university degree in anything is through analysis. Start thinking about great games (and crappy ones) and break them up into the pieces that work and that don't. Why do they work together? Would it be better in a different way? Have these kinds of discussions with other people who are willing to engage with this kind of thinking and you'll start to look at games (and books) differently. Ask people why they found a game fun and even watch them play. People are a very big part of any game - so you'll need to talk to them at some stage.
Essentially, you're looking at the magician and figuring out where the hell he was hiding the rabbit the whole time. And figuring that out only makes the magic more amazing.
I was talking to some friends of mine from undergrad days last night, it confuses me how as soon as they started doing the gamedev degree it ruined playing games for them. For them the magic was well and completely lost as soon as they knew that it wasn't magic and they could not bring themselves to appreciate anything further.
For me, I think that kinda highlights one of the problems for many people doing the game dev degree. They start doing it out of interest and once they start to actually do it, the magic of games is lost to them and they don't try to replace it with a passion for making them :/ Well at least that's how I see it, I'm still confused by their reaction.
What I mean to say is that many people enjoy playing games, but only certain types of people are going to enjoy making them - thinking about the design elements and making something fun. It's not for everyone and it's definitely not the "glamorous" cool lifestyle that some believe it to be :)
There's a post somewhere else on these forums that links to an article encouraging people not to quit their day job. It's great advice because having that day-job barrier might be just the thing that makes making games awesome. I definitely don't think I would want to be in it full time - and that's not a bad thing either :)
"I love that there is a degree in Game Design! Is there a PostGrad option for those of us with degrees already?"
There are two options at Wits.
For people with a BSc(Hons) or a BScEng the MSc at Information Engineering has produced several papers on games. This is specifically for people interested in the development process or extreme technical challenges. Here candidates often work on a practical project and a research report.
For people with a BA(Hons) the MA (Digital Arts) by dissertation (long form written) or practical and research report is an option. Currently this has been used by people more interested in the creative disciplines, or game studies, but this is now being opened to Game Design specific topics as well. I have supervised many many MA's on game narrative, character analysis, animation etc, and I'm dead keen to take on more game design orientated papers.
For practical projects, co-supervision between the divisions (Information Engineering and Digital Arts) is possible, and has been happening for years.
No coursework MA's in Game Design are in place as yet. Post-grad work will therefore need to be research driven.
My friend Bryan is currently doing an MSc via dissertation at UCT in the analysis of flow and presence in games (or something like that). He did a BSc in computer science and psychology as well as an honours degree in Computer Science where he gained special permission to do the mobile games module without doing the gamedev undergrad degree. That led him into his current field of study (I think he is one of the first students with a solid psych background investigation games at UCT). His supervisor has also done quite a bit of research into presence and virtual reality type stuff.
I also know that @Duke (who was at the CT meetup) is doing post-doctoral research into gamification and games for change.
I hope @Duke will see this thread but I will mention it to him next time I see him (probably on Friday during our meeting).
@creative630 has already touched on what I'm doing. I am studying user experience in video games with a focus on this theory of optimal experience known as flow. It is not game design specifically. Just doing a research project. If you want to know more about my project, check out my website at people.cs.uct.ac.za/~bdavies The knowledge I am gaining can be certainly applied to parts of what we call games design. The parts that keep people engaged and playing. I don't want to go off topic too much. You can PM if you want to chat about Masters stuff. That is an option, right?
I assume you've read/heard of Jenova Chen's masters on Flow in games? Here's a link. Also check out his game, flOw which he created to demonstrate the possibilities of flow in games.
That he wrote a masters on flow kind of makes a whole lot of sense when one looks at his successful career since then :).
For those considering post graduate studies in the games field, I'll provide a little information about his Degree.
He graduated from USC's Interactive Media Division (IMD) with an MFA - Master's Fine Art. Now, just because it is not a science degree does not mean his studies were not technical in theory. IMD offers courses As with what @hanli mentioned about WITS, it is not uncommon for kids in the USA to graduate with a BA degree with a triple major in biochemistry, physics and maths for example.
The thesis linked by @Bensonance is design orientated. Chen took a theory of fun and engagement (flow), a model for the accessibility of challenges (slanty line), mixed them to together and produced a set of design principles that, if applied to a game, should keep players engaged and having fun for long periods of time.
Why I'm telling you all this is because Chen studied one very specific aspect of game design for the thesis. And this type of focus is possibly how many post-grad degrees are structured. I would think that the broader set of skills we consider to be important for game design would need to be acquired outside of a post grad outside of the degree; perhaps during undergrad, or in spare time.