How to Get Started in Game Development

About This Course

There's never been a better time to start a career in the game development industry. Games can be found on computers, the Web, gaming consoles, and virtually every mobile tablet and phone. Industry forecasts indicate that gaming will be worth close to $100 billion dollars in the next two years. Talented, creative, and enthusiastic people are in great demand in this industry.

Whether you want to start your own indie game project in your basement or work with a small creative team or for a large game development studio, this course will prepare you to start developing your own games. You'll start by learning the fundamentals of game development and get an overview of game genres, platforms, and audiences. Next, you'll learn tools and techniques to help you make better design decisions and achieve greater efficiencies as you develop your own games.

You'll learn why many games fail and how to ensure your games are positioned for success. During the course, you'll gain hands-on experience in many of the game development processes. By the end of the course, you'll have the experience and confidence to start developing your own game.

Finally, we'll go behind the scenes of the game design industry to see how it started and where it's headed. You'll learn about the various roles in game development and how to pursue a career in the industry. When you complete the course, you'll be ready to start developing games right away!

About The Instructor

This course includes a knowledgeable and caring instructor who will guide you through your lessons, facilitate discussions, and answer your questions. The instructor for this course will be Edward Lavieri.

With Master of Science degrees in both Education and Computer Science and doctoral work in Emerging Media, Ed Lavieri has just as much fun programming computer games as he does teaching others how to do it. He has authored and edited numerous computer books. Ed also has his own game development studio where he has created over 50 Web, desktop, and mobile games.

Syllabus

A new section of each course starts monthly. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each course at least two months apart.

Week 1

Wednesday - Lesson 01

In this first lesson, you'll get an overview of the game-development industry. You'll find out where the industry is headed and where it came from. You'll also discover what it takes to be a game developer and the wide range of opportunities available—from large development studios to a corporate training office. By the end of this lesson, you'll have a sense of whether this exciting and challenging career is right for you!

Friday - Lesson 02

In this second lesson, you'll get an overview of game genres, platforms, and audiences. You'll find out information on how to leverage specific game-genre techniques to ensure your game is fun. You will also discover the differences between game platforms and how they have an impact on you and the games you develop. By the end of this lesson, you'll have an idea of what game genre you want to develop, what platform or platforms you want to develop for, and what audience segment you'll target.

Week 2

Wednesday - Lesson 03

Today you'll get an overview of game interface design. You'll learn the importance of interface design decisions to your game's success. You'll also find out information about the differences between interfaces based on game genre and gaming platform. By the end of this lesson, you'll have an idea of what interface components to include in your game and how to optimize user experiences.

Friday - Lesson 04

In this lesson, you'll get an overview of why people play games and what makes them fun. You'll discover key elements to include in games you develop, so they'll be fun to play. You'll also learn the concept of game immersion, what makes games immersive, and how to create immersive game worlds.

Week 3

Wednesday - Lesson 05

Today you'll learn about finding talented people and how to create a team to develop your game. You'll also discover the hardware and software requirements of game development. You will also learn about the budgetary requirements associated with developing your game as well as some insight into sources of funding.

Friday - Lesson 06

We'll explore game engines and how you can use them to develop your game in today's lesson. You'll also learn about several professional development environments and how they can be leveraged to your advantage. You'll also have the opportunity to experiment with a few mobile-application development environments.

Week 4

Wednesday - Lesson 07

How do you work with and lead game-development teams both in person and remotely? Today you'll learn how! You'll also discover the benefits and pitfalls of outsourcing portions of your game-development project and how to use consultants to your advantage. Last, you'll explore the game-development cycle and how to apply the cycle to your game-development project.

Friday - Lesson 08

We'll continue our exploration of game-development processes in this lesson. First, we'll examine several practices and processes that will help you with your game-development project. Then you'll discover the importance of testing your game's functions and features. You'll also learn how to manage the testing process. Finally, you'll learn how to create your own game-release schema including alpha, beta, and public game releases.

Week 5

Wednesday - Lesson 09

In this lesson, we'll explore the mobile application market to help you decide which mobile platforms you want to develop your game for. You'll discover tools and techniques that you can use to develop games for mobile devices including tablets, smartphones, and other devices. You'll also learn how to distribute your mobile app to Apple's App Store, Google Play, Windows Phone Store, and BlackBerry's App World.

Friday - Lesson 10

Today you'll examine how to prepare your game for postproduction and how to continue working on your game after it has been distributed. You'll discover how to make your game marketable, including the developing of pricing and marketing strategies. You'll learn how to get people to play and talk about your game as part of your postproduction efforts. Last, you'll learn how to upgrade and support your game.

Week 6

Wednesday - Lesson 11

In this lesson, you'll explore the game-development industry and decide where you want to fit in. You'll learn about several career fields and explore the knowledge and skills each one requires and where to get the proper education and experience. You'll also gain the necessary information to develop your own path toward a career in game development.

Friday - Lesson 12

In our last lesson, you'll discover the opportunities and challenges in game development—and how to capitalize on the first and overcome the second! You'll learn how to develop a game project to include designing, developing, and publishing your game. You'll also learn how to move beyond the basics of game development.

Requirements

Internet access, e-mail, the Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox Web browser, and the Adobe Flash and PDF plug-ins (two free and simple downloads you obtain at Adobe Downloads by clicking Get Adobe Flash Player and Get Adobe Reader).