I Wonder...........

I wonder how many of you are going to finish your games? How many of you are preparing for the presentation on May 11? Now is the time to debug your games. The game play should be finished or nearly finished. This is the time for the detail work.

We will practice presentations next week. On the wiki is a lesson about how to give a great presentation. You need to complete this before giving your classroom practice presentation. You'll have the opportunity to practice a few times before the real thing on Wed., May 11.

Make the most of your class time. There's no time to procrastinate now. It's showtime!

Final Presentations

It's that time in the semester when we look forward to the final game presentations. For third period game design class, it's been a long year in ways and in other ways it's not been long enough to accomplish everything that needed to be completed. There were far too many interruptions and too many snow days this year. Now it's crunch time. The final game presentations are set for May 11. This week we are on break, and then we have a week to tie up loose ends, and it will be time for the presentations. We have to finish up before the WesTest and before the seniors leave. So, we don't have too much choice. As far as the progress, it seems that most of the teams are well on their way to completing their games. There is one game that I worry about, but maybe that team will surprise me. I have tried to give you freedom in creating. And, I think that you have some good game concepts. I'll stress, as always, keep the game interactive and make it fun for the player. Enjoy your break!

Time for a Break

It's that time of year when it's hard to keep your mind on your work, and it's hard to stay focused on the task at hand. The sun is shining and it's warm outside. The flowers are starting to bloom, and the birds are singing. The grass is getting green. Spring is in the air. I love it. This is when I don't like being confined to the classroom, and I'll bet you don't either. If we can make it through this week, we have a whole week off to enjoy the nice spring weather. Although as I'm writing this, we are having a flood. I had to cut my evening activities short because the road to my house was becoming water-covered and I had to get home before I was unable to make it home. However, tomorrow will look much better I'm sure. The games are in their final stages. The bugs are being worked out. Platform coding has finally been mastered. Thanks to the master himself, Jacob. He was able to integrate it into his game and others followed his lead. Now we have walls and who knows what will come next. There has been much frustration, but in the end it will have been worth it all. When you see what you have been able to create, it will astound you! You have come so far from the beginning of the year. I am proud of all of your accomplishments, large and small. And, you should be proud of yourself as well. Take a break. You deserve one.

Congratulations to Game Design Students

This week in Charleston the FBLA State Leadership Conference was held. Students competed in various business-related competitions with other members across the state. The first and second place winners in most competitions will have the opportunity to advance to national competitions this summer in Orlando, Florida at the National FBLA Conference. One of the competitions was computer game and simulation programming. Randolph County students placed first and second in this event. Tygarts Valley High School took second place honors, and Randolph Technical Center students took the first place award. Both teams of students were game design students. It is exciting that the skills that these students acquired in game design allowed them to excell in the competition and receive the awards at the state-level competition. We are very proud of these students! Congratulations! In addition to these honors, two other game design students from Tygarts Valley received first place honors at the conference. One student received first place in the client services competition and another student received first place honors in the digital video production competition. Could it be that skills these students acquired in game design help them to achieve this level of success? I think so. Many skills are polished and developed in game design class. Skills such as problem solving, leadership, teamwork skills, communication skills, social networking, and many others are honed through practical and necessary use in the classroom. Other skills like learning Adobe Flash and learning to videotape each other are introduced and then developed as the course progresses. Sometimes we learn because it's convenient. Sometimes we learn because it's necessary. Sometimes we learn because it's fun. But, the important thing is we learn, and we grow, and we are never the same. Game design will take you places you never thought you would go. Enjoy the trip! Orlando is the just the beginning. Where will it take you?