I do not post this comment to be a troll, I post this comment because of its importance to students and their educations.
I for one am excited about the new concentration on campus and currently we are working with the faculty right now to make it better.
As an officer of the student group repsonsible for creating the game concentration mentioned in the article I for one glad to see that people have opinions about our first class, what I do not appreciate is the silence generated by it.
Its hard to see people interested in making games and then never see them again only to find out later on that they were disappointed or felt what they were doing was a waste of their time.
I will ask any of you who have been in that situation, why?
I see at least two commentors on the article make some very eloquent comments about what they didn't like about their class and I am proud of them; but why didn't they share these thoughts with the professor in question that or with the local student group who works in hand with the faculty?
Remeber you pay for your education. Right now the faculty is working at break neck speed to make the concentration fun and student oriented, they need your involvement and your input.
I encourage any of you who have such cirriculums on your campus, don't wait around for it to get better, get involved! Your silence will not improve anything and you will only find yourself being disappointed in the end.
This post does not represent the opinions of the student group who submitted this article, I speak for myself.
-Hanson R. Bertrand, Jr.
I have made note of your comments, but I will disagree with you on gamemaker. Granted it removes the whole coding an engine aspect of making games, but it does not remove you from coding. GameMaker does come with a scripting interface allowing you more control over the games you create and as anyone worth their salt knows being able to use scripts in an engine is very useful.
I will admit that the first course is far from perfect but I also know that CMPS150 students currently are being taught concepts that were never introduced to me when I took the class 6 years ago.
If you have such feelings about the class now, and I see that you have voiced an opinion already then why not get involved. The local student group SVGA meets with the faculty on a regular basis to help improve the cirriculum. We have a meeting tomorrow (Feb 2nd) at bisbanos at 6 p.m. Come out, have fun, express your thoughts, join the club.
This isn't a sales pitch, but if you have opinions on where the game design cirriculum is going then I encourage you to get involved.
-Hanson R. Bertrand, Jr.
Vice President, SVGA
I will note that the class isn't perfect now, but then again I see 150 students learning concepts that were never covered when I took it 6 years ago. Refinement comes with time, the instructor is probably testing to see what ideas work and don't work so he can make the class better.
Granted the university might be hiring someone from the game industry or someone whose interests is games next semester, but why wait until next semester when you can act on your ideas now. The local group, SVGA, meets with the faculty regularly to help improve the game design concentration. In fact our next meeting is Thursday Feb. 2nd @ Bisbanos at 6 p.m.
This isn't a sales pitch this is your opportunity to tell us what your feelings are about the current state of the cirriculum and possibly join the organization if you wish.
I'm encouraging you to get your voice out there, silence will not make the game design concentration any better.
-Hanson R. Bertrand, Jr.
Vice President, SVGA
Slashdot Mirror
I do not post this comment to be a troll, I post this comment because of its importance to students and their educations. I for one am excited about the new concentration on campus and currently we are working with the faculty right now to make it better. As an officer of the student group repsonsible for creating the game concentration mentioned in the article I for one glad to see that people have opinions about our first class, what I do not appreciate is the silence generated by it. Its hard to see people interested in making games and then never see them again only to find out later on that they were disappointed or felt what they were doing was a waste of their time. I will ask any of you who have been in that situation, why? I see at least two commentors on the article make some very eloquent comments about what they didn't like about their class and I am proud of them; but why didn't they share these thoughts with the professor in question that or with the local student group who works in hand with the faculty? Remeber you pay for your education. Right now the faculty is working at break neck speed to make the concentration fun and student oriented, they need your involvement and your input. I encourage any of you who have such cirriculums on your campus, don't wait around for it to get better, get involved! Your silence will not improve anything and you will only find yourself being disappointed in the end. This post does not represent the opinions of the student group who submitted this article, I speak for myself. -Hanson R. Bertrand, Jr.
I have made note of your comments, but I will disagree with you on gamemaker. Granted it removes the whole coding an engine aspect of making games, but it does not remove you from coding. GameMaker does come with a scripting interface allowing you more control over the games you create and as anyone worth their salt knows being able to use scripts in an engine is very useful. I will admit that the first course is far from perfect but I also know that CMPS150 students currently are being taught concepts that were never introduced to me when I took the class 6 years ago. If you have such feelings about the class now, and I see that you have voiced an opinion already then why not get involved. The local student group SVGA meets with the faculty on a regular basis to help improve the cirriculum. We have a meeting tomorrow (Feb 2nd) at bisbanos at 6 p.m. Come out, have fun, express your thoughts, join the club. This isn't a sales pitch, but if you have opinions on where the game design cirriculum is going then I encourage you to get involved. -Hanson R. Bertrand, Jr. Vice President, SVGA
I will note that the class isn't perfect now, but then again I see 150 students learning concepts that were never covered when I took it 6 years ago. Refinement comes with time, the instructor is probably testing to see what ideas work and don't work so he can make the class better. Granted the university might be hiring someone from the game industry or someone whose interests is games next semester, but why wait until next semester when you can act on your ideas now. The local group, SVGA, meets with the faculty regularly to help improve the game design concentration. In fact our next meeting is Thursday Feb. 2nd @ Bisbanos at 6 p.m. This isn't a sales pitch this is your opportunity to tell us what your feelings are about the current state of the cirriculum and possibly join the organization if you wish. I'm encouraging you to get your voice out there, silence will not make the game design concentration any better. -Hanson R. Bertrand, Jr. Vice President, SVGA