Students in game design development programs learn the programming essential to making a video game playable.
Game design development programs teach students the technical side of video game creation. Students focus on the programming involved in creating interactive and interesting worlds for players to experience. Game programmers turn an artist’s renderings of characters and environments into a playable game.
The courses for game design programs vary from school to school, but most teach the same skills. Students can expect to learn C++ programming, as well as how to use other software for animation programming. There will be a large emphasis on mathematics, especially the math skills necessary to game programming. Students will also study physics, and how its principles apply to creating video game worlds in a realistic way. This training includes simulating gravity and fiction, trajectory, motion control, and collision detection and response. Students will learn how to create artificial intelligence for game development, including realistic response, decision making, and flocking behaviors.
After completing game design development programs, students will be prepared for a career in game development. The majority of students will work in video game programming. Some will lead creative teams, while others may be hired to work on one particular concept, such as vehicles or props. Engine programmers create the main structure of the game, determining how the game will run and interact with the platform it runs on. Other job titles include artificial intelligence programmers, tool programmers, and graphics programmers.
A career in game design development will set students on the pathway to an exciting future in video game creation. Programmers hold an important position in the gaming industry; they turn the artwork created by visual artists and the concepts and storyline into a playable product. By the time students graduate from game design development programs, they will have the skills necessary to earn a position in the competitive field of video game programming.