Game (Company) Development

Z is working on his collection of tools (he doesn't like the term "Game Engine"). TelevisioN is doing art for a commercial game with actual funding. Chex is doing art for a natural food/wellness website. I am going to document my progress (or lack thereof) understanding everything needed to make a viable video game -- and a video game company -- here in Oklahoma. I teach some game development related classes at a local university branch, so whenever something I'm doing for a class relates to my goals here I'll post my accomplishments accordingly.

This weekend my wife, Junie, and I saw Julie & Julia. Naturally, as a computer geek with literary aspirations, I was inspired to actually start contributing something to this blog.

Currently I am preparing to teach Level Design Concepts for the upcoming semester. The class has three enrollees at present, and may not actually make, but I want to be prepared in any case. Our textbook will be Level Design for Games: Creating Compelling Game Experiences, by Phil Co. So far I have read the first two chapters: How Do You Make a Game? and Defining the Game.

I also contacted Valve Software's academic licensing program (known as SourceU) to find out how to participate. Valve's Academic-Education coordinator told me what information they need about our university's program in order to write up a licensing agreement. I passed this information along to my department head who told me she would "see what we can do." Does that mean "don't hold your breath?"

I proceeded to download the Left 4 Dead Authoring Tools and so far I have completed the first three steps of Left 4 Dead Level Design Basics. I'll let you know if I make anything really exciting.

- Gadget Man