Almost Here

Christmas is almost here and the students are looking forward to another week-long break. The semester is nearing its end as well. The middle of January marks the end of another Game Design class and with it comes mixed feelings. This has been a difficult semester in many ways.

Some students are just beginning to blossom and it will be hard to see them have to move on to other classes. Others have yet to sprout a desire to learn the content.  Some have done very well the entire semester and it will be sad to see them leave a class that they've enjoyed so much.

The games have evolved and some have stagnated and died. Others are still in the making and will continue to change up until the day that we present the final games. This has been a trying class. I hope that the final games surprise me with their creativity and their final push for success. I've given it all that I have.

Constructing Code

Every year we run into the same problems with the game coding. Students can't seem to find the code they need for their games. It's not like there is no code on the wiki or no tutorials offered or no videos available to teach different kinds of action script. So, what really seems to be the problem, you ask? Well, to generalize, it's simply most students don't want to read, watch, or look for code. They want to just be able to write it themselves or ask someone to do it for them. It's so much easier that way. But, that's not the way it works in Game Design. And, I'm sorry to say, that's a hard lesson to learn for so many students who struggle with coding in their games.

It really isn't that difficult to find the type of coding that you want in a game. If you want collision detection, or a scrolling platform game, or if you are simply working on making a button. There are all kinds of tutorials and videos available for you on the wiki. You can copy the code and change the instance names to what you are using in your game and it should work. Sometimes, depending on where you place it in the actions frame, you may have to move the code around a little or change a bracket or two, but things should work correctly.

It saves time and aggravation. You learn and even discover things that you didn't mean to find and that can give you some good ideas or inspiration for your game. It builds your problem solving skills and helps to build your critical thinking skills. What a variety of skills you acquire in completing this task--and all to your benefit!

You can become the best problem solver, critical thinker, and team player that you can possibly be. Game Design gives you the perfect opportunity to do this. I see that you are improving, but you still have room for growth.

How far can you go? How much can you grow? Test your limits with Game Design. I'll be there to support you. Let's construct code. Let's construct your future.

Game Demos Completed

Now that the game demos have been completed, your focus needs to be on completing the game. Please read the professional reviews of your demos and take the suggestions of the reviewer seriously. Make the suggested changes and proceed with your game.

Divide the tasks with your team members and the work won't seem so overwhelming. Then develop the next levels of your game. There are other tutorials that you will need to complete in order to get the coding that you need to complete your game. And, not all of you will need the same types of coding to finish your games.

We are still working behind schedule, so please work as quickly and efficiently as possible as you continue your games. January 18 is the last day of the semester and we will present our final games prior to this. So, let's get these games rolling!

Thankfulness

It's nearing Thanksgiving time and a time to be thankful for all of the things that we have. A time to remember the first Thanksgiving in America when times were a lot leaner than they are today. We are blessed and take for granted many of the conveniences that we use every day. In the last couple of weeks many people in our nation have lost their homes and had their lives altered by Sandy. Some even lost their lives.

We had power outages, high winds, and a few feet of snow. We lost a week of school and will have to make up the days at the end of the year. As of today, there are still people without electricity and telephone service in our area. This was a traumatic time for us locally. Still, we were able to cope.

At times like these, we have to remember that we are blessed to be alive and healthy. We have to be resourceful and concerned with our friends and neighbors.

During the coming days, think of things that you are thankful for and give of your time and resources to help someone who is less fortunate or can benefit from something you possess. Happy Thanksgiving!

Game Design

Well, it's almost time for the presentation of the demos. We've had to face more obstacles than any class that I've ever had, but the time is drawing near for the demos to take place. Are you ready? For some of you, I think you are nearly there. For others, I think not. I don't know if you think this is something that is going to magically happen on its on, but you are going to be sorely disappointed.

Teamwork has not gone very well for some of you. Could it be because you've not done your part in making your team a well-working unit? Have you put forth all the effort that you could to make your team the best it could be? Do you contribute something every day that is going to make your game better? Does your team meet at the beginning of every class period to discuss the game plan for the day so that everyone knows exactly what he/she needs to accomplish that day. Do you meet at the end of the block or the next class period to revisit and assess what you've accomplished and what you need to do to take the next step? This is the process that you need to do over and over. And, you will find the teams that are making progress, your peers in this class, are doing just that.

It may seem strange to you and you may think this class is not important, maybe just an elective class, but life is a lot like game design. You will work with others in a team, sometimes people that you don't especially like or don't know that well or that you don't socialize with outside the workplace. In order to be successful, you will need to use the same strategies that you will use in here to be successful. Are you surprised? You shouldn't be. Your employer will not be interested in what you can do alone but how well you can work with others in a team environment, how productive you can be, and how you can channel your innovative and creative energies into a product or service when you are working on a product or service in a less than perfect environment.

You, my friend, are not on an island alone. You probably never will be. How will you learn the strategies to be successful? You have the opportunity to do so right here, right now. Take advantage of it and make a super game with your team members. I am confident that you can and will. Show us what you are made of!

Troubling Times at Tygarts Valley

The last couple of weeks at Tygarts Valley have really been difficult for all of us. I don't ever remember a time that has been so hard to get through as what we've had to deal with in the circumstances surrounding the death of one of our students two weeks ago. Today was the funeral and I hope that it brings some closure to some of the pain and grief that we've been dealing with. We are in shock and disbelief that something so horrific could happen in our small community. It will be hard to go on, but we must.

The storm brought a week without power and a couple feet of snow to us so we haven't had school for over a week now. Things seem so surreal with all that's happened. If it were only a bad dream that we could wake up and shake off.

Life sometimes shakes us to our core and makes us evaluate ourselves and our lives. It's not an enjoyable time, nor is it something that we look forward to. However, it is good for us to look at our direction in life and our beliefs and redefine what really matters to us. I hope that we can grow individually, in community, and unify our school with a spirit of love and hope for a better tomorrow.

Creating your Games

Now that you've been put into teams, it's time to select your game topics. Remember, start with a broad topic area and then work your way down into something more specific that is going to be educational but will allow for game play that will be interactive and fun. Make sure you have input from all of your team members. A team works together. If your team is not doing this, something is wrong.

Your idea, once selected, needs to be well-researched so that you can have concrete facts to include in the game. You have to teach something in the game. If you aren't teaching something in the game, then your game isn't acceptable. If you already know everything and don't need any information, then your idea isn't acceptable. Also, keep in mind that your game needs to be created for players on your grade level.

What you are doing right now is what real game designers do before they start making a game. Only they do much more research than you will do in this class. The amount of time and effort you put into creating and researching for your game and deciding how the game will be put together will determine the quality of the game later on. Even though you may think this part isn't necessary, you will soon find out that this really is a necessary part of the process. It's like playing a football game and not making sure you have all of the players and not practicing the plays with the players before the game. If you don't thoroughly complete this process, you are playing the football game just like that, and how do you think the football game will turn out?

Take the time and do this right. It will benefit your team in the future. I'm looking forward to some awesome games. Let's do this!

Welcome to Blogger BCA Class!

Welcome to Blogger! I am glad that you have created your blog and you are reading and contributing to blogs. It may seem a little confusing at first to use, but you will soon catch on to it, and you will enjoy it I'm sure. There is really nothing confusing about it. It is an online place where you can create and publish it for the world to see (at least the limited world) in our case.

Pictures and video can be uploaded easily to your blog posts and you can comment on other posts. Rather than using a a word processor and a printer to respond to a writing prompt or a written assignment, you can create a blog post and publish it. It doesn't matter if you are in class or not, as long as you have access to the internet, you are able to complete the task. It's great.

Game Design students have already gotten some experience using blogs and working on wikis, which is the next thing that we are going to do in the BCA class. It is also and online community where you can create and publish your work. You can share what you have created and comment and add to each other's projects. It is an exciting place to be. Skills that you will learn will be invaluable to you as you leave high school and continue your education and go into the world of work. Many companies use wikis and many universities offer online courses that use wikis as well. Don't think that these skills will never be useful to you. Learn as much as you can and enjoy!

I asked you to upload a picture to add to your first blog. Here is a picture that I chose. This is a picture of Nashville at night. I was on a riverboat cruise at night when I took this picture. This was a beautiful view, don't you think?

Nashville, TN at Night

Scholarship Opportunity for High School Seniors

Below is a scholarship opportunity for high school seniors. Some of  you Game Design students may be interested in checking into this. Follow the link below for more information. Good luck.

The Web Design Contest is for seniors interested in pursuing graphic design, web design or other arts. The Web Technology Contest asks students to develop creative way(s) to use web technology in education. You may go on our website to find out more details:

http://www.eschoolview.com/scholarships

 

 

 

 

 

Upload your Hidden Object Game Presentation

Here is an example video of one of our students in the class presenting his hidden object game. Let me know if you can't get your video to upload to blogger.