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Guildhall at SMU Q&A
An anonymous submitter wrote in about this interview with the director of the Guildhall game development program. Slashdot mentioned it earlier.
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obviously they mentioned the system, not the interview.
free (as in mp3s) electronic music
The Guildhall Interview - 17 January 2003 00:01 - John [JCal] Callaham
s ites.htm. Not mentioned there, is that Tim Willits, lead designer from id Software, is developing an assessment test for students applying to the level design track, and we're also exploring other ways to effectively assess the skill levels of applicants to the other tracks.
The Dallas area is already a huge hotbed for game developers of all types and now Dallas-based Southern Methodist University is planning to make it a hotbed for learning about game development with The Guildhall, their upcoming curriculum program. HomeLAN got a chance to chat with David Najjab, the director of digital games at SMU, to find out more about their plans for The Guildhall.
HomeLAN - How did the idea for creating an actual game development curriculum at SMU start?
David Najjab - It's funny, because I was actually working on gaming development curriculum at another university, and it wasn't going very well. I would meet with gaming leaders in the industry, and they would come up with the coolest ideas on how to structure a program. However, when I would take their ideas to the university curriculum committee, they just wouldn't "get" how unique gaming is as a discipline. This university wanted to pull together a degree plan for gaming by using their existing curriculum - the biggest changes made would merely be the names of the classes! And this is happening all over the country! If a gaming degree comes out of a computer science program or an art school, pretty much only the names of the courses have been changed.
People in the gaming community wanted a radically different type of program that would really address the needs of the gaming industry. When I heard about people at the Hart eCenter thinking outside the box about bringing the real world of business and technology together with academia, I thought it seemed like a perfect fit for a program like this one. The phenomenal way things are coming together tells me I was right.
HomeLAN - With a number of game developers literally self-taught through the creation of their own games and mods, what will the Guildhall bring that will help future game designers?
David Najjab - One thing that we hear consistently and often from professional game developers is that while they get flooded with resumes, hardly any of the applicants could actually be useful and productive at a gaming studio - they just don't have the skills or the experience. It's true that most gaming professionals have been self taught but that's only because until now that was the only option they had. Remember, every discipline at some time was self taught. In fact, Levelord pointed out for me recently that many years ago people thought it was crazy when his father created a film school at UCLA. That just wasn't the way things had been done in the past, but why not? We are so glad the Guildhall is breaking new ground in the gaming industry, teaching aspiring, creative talent how to be the best at what they want to do.
HomeLAN - Will there be any sort of prerequisites for admission into the Guildhall?
David Najjab - There are general prerequisites for all applicants and specific ones created for each track of study, art, levels, and software development. You can find that information on our website at http://www.guildhall.smu.edu/Admissions/pre-requi
HomeLAN - Can you give us an idea about the course curriculum for the 18-month course?
David Najjab - Sure. First of all, at Tom Hall and John Romero's suggestion, we have a shorter, more intensive program than some might expect. That's because the game developers we are working with feel strongly that the program should reflect the true nature of the gaming industry, which is very intense to say the least. For that reason we have made sure the Guildhall at SMU will provide an intense experience - our students should definitely expect to work long hours!
Classes will be taught in a team teaching environment - full-time faculty will provide continuity while the adjunct faculty coming to us from top gaming studios in our area will provide special areas of focus to complement the regular coursework. Our six-term program will incorporate individual assignments and team projects, and game projects will progress from simple to more complex throughout the program. Some highlights of the subjects we'll cover in each track are posted online at http://www.guildhall.smu.edu/programs.htm.
HomeLAN - The Guildhall will have an all-star lineup of Dallas-based game developers as instructors. What will they bring to the table?
David Najjab - The same thing they brought to the entertainment world - their creative genius! That we have these people working with us is still something I can't believe! Just today we were going over the names of the gaming industry luminaries who are helping develop our curriculum, and it is incredible - it's already like a who's who of the game development world, and there are still more coming on board! I hate to try to list them all for fear of leaving someone out, but some of our "star" supporters include Levelord, John Romero, Tom Hall, Graeme Divine, Randy Pitchford of Gearbox, Jeff Wilkinson from Gametutorial.com, and more.
These industry experts supporting the Guildhall are what make our program so great! Just think about this - who better to design levels curriculum than Levelord himself? And students at other schools may read about video gaming history, but at the Guildhall our students will hear about how things happened from the people who actually made the history. What's more, our students will not simply talk about their favorite games with fellow students; as part of their coursework, they will actually discuss details of those games with the people who are making them - what a difference!
HomeLAN - Besides working in the classroom, what other things will the Guildhall do to instruct their students?
David Najjab - Aside from classroom assignments and projects, which will run throughout the entire program, our students will have weekly or biweekly LAN parties. Students will take big-name games, challenge each other, and then explore what made it work the way it did. Also, we hear a lot from the experts working with us that a truly professional game developer will never lose sight of the simple fact that games have to be fun to be successful, so of course our students will also spend time discussing what made the games FUN!
HomeLAN - Will there be any support from game publishers, software tools developers or perhaps hardware manufacturers for the curriculum?
David Najjab - We have already been working closely with Wordware Publishing on several projects, and Joe Kreiner at Logitech has also been very helpful as we've been putting pen to paper. Our goal is to pull in more of these types of industry supporters as we move forward.
HomeLAN - After students go through the Guildhall courses and get their certificate will there be any help from the school to get these students jobs in the game development industry?
David Najjab - This is one of the big advantages of having a program supported by such important people in the gaming industry. Our students will not only attend courses designed by these people and work with them in class, but they will also get the benefit of their connections after they leave the Guildhall. Of course we can't make any guarantees, but we will definitely work through our contacts in the industry to help our students get interviews at top gaming studios. And being in Dallas gives us a great playing field to start with - we've got Monkeystone Games, id Software, Gearbox, Terminal Reality, Ritual Entertainment, and more.
HomeLAN - What plans do have for expanding the game development curriculum in the future?
David Najjab - We have discussed many ideas about how the Guildhall might grow and expand over the years, even into undergraduate and graduate degree programs as well as research. However, right now we are really more focused on the near future and getting this first class of students off to a great start! We are currently undergoing the accreditation approval process and expect classes to begin in July of this year.
HomeLAN - Finally, is there anything else you wish to say about the Guildhall at SMU?
David Najjab - I think it's important for people to understand that a program like this just couldn't happen without a forward-thinking institution like SMU. The university created the Hart eCenter to be an innovator of special programs like the Guildhall that integrate many disciplines into effective ways to fill needs in our society. The Hart eCenter's director, Dr. Peter Raad, immediately saw a great opportunity to do this with our program. Through the Guildhall at SMU, we are pioneering a new, and clearly the most effective, way to teach digital games development. We are doing something radically different by tapping into the creativity and experience of gaming professionals. The result is that we're not only going to help meet the exacting needs of this industry but we're also going to help satisfy the high expectations of increasingly more sophisticated gamers.
It's interesting they include a PC in the tuition for the first term. $12k vs $7k for the second term. Implies a $4k-$5k price tag for said computer. Ownership doesn't transfer until after the fourth term (and a total expenditure of $29k). What a rip off.
Why not just post minimum specs each term? If a student can come up with tuition for this program, they can afford a few hundred each term to upgrade their PC if required.
In case anyone was wondering, that building is still around, as are some historic prints.
FWIW, there used to be a Guildhall University too, but it just merged and changed its name.