Bfa In Game Design And Development Program

2D Game Design

This course exposes students to the beginning technology of 2D games. Each student gets the experience of running her or his own game studio in collaboration with 1-4 classmates. Students deliver a working digital game at the end of the semester. Industry standards such as Agile, Scrum, Confluence, and JIRA expose students to state-of-the-art production methods and enable teams to deliver software efficiently.

Students are supported by a technical instructor/mentor who assists with programming as an active member of their team.

Students take increasingly advanced variations of this course in the course of their degree so they will acquire more sophisticated skills each successive semester. At the end of the degree they will have a portfolio of working software projects.

Introduction to Game Analysis

The focus of this course is the study and deconstruction of video games. Student learn how to break any game down into Formal Elements, Dramatic Elements, and Dynamic Elements and become versed in the language of Playcentric Design. Students are exposed to the video game canon via study of both seminal games as well as contemporary masterpieces. Deliverables are game deconstruction presentations suitable for a student portfolio.

Game Design Studio I

This is a companion to the 2D Game Design class. Students work in teams to build their working digital game and receive individualized tutelage and direct coding support from their instructor. Students learn that they can produce working software—even with beginner skills in a short time. They sharpen their skills by practicing this process multiple times in the degree.

Playcentric Design

This course provides a foundation of knowledge for understanding games as playable systems. Students learn the language of Playcentric Design and practice the craft of prototyping, playtesting, and iteration in an environment independent of computers. This is to provide the student with hard skills that can be used throughout a career in games—transcendent of changing technologies.

The student will:

1) Understand Fundamental Theory – See how any game breaks down into Formal, Dramatic, and Dynamic systems. And learn how the three interrelate.

2) Learn Core Development Process – Acquire the skills of prototyping, playtesting, iteration, presentation, and collaboration. These timeless skills can be applied to all game types present and future.

3) Practice, Practice, Practice – All students prototype multiple games on paper regardless of technical skills. All students gain extensive experience critiquing and analyzing games via formal playtests with fellow students.

At the end of the course each student will have a portfolio of paper game prototypes.

Introduction to 3D Art

This course introduces students to Autodesk's Maya Animation, Visual Effects, and Compositing software, a robust application used throughout the video game industry for the creation of visual assets. Students learn how to optimize the Maya interface for enhanced productivity. They are introduced to polygon tools and taught polygonal modeling in a hands-on environment.

Students gain practical understanding of polygonal modeling for organic characters, and hard surface models. Students will also learn the basics of UV mapping, nurbs modeling, texturing and three-point lighting using D-map and raytrace shadows.

Systems Literacy

This course builds upon the foundations established in the Playcentric Design course, and focuses on advanced study of system design and play mechanics. The course is workshop-focused, meaning a substantial portion of time is spent actively engaged in the paper prototyping process. Readings and lectures supplement discussions as we explore more sophisticated facets of the playable systems and user experience design. Creating system literacy is the primary goal; and everything else we do supports that aim. Students will leave the course with multiple portfolio-ready game prototypes.

Publishing Video Games

This course provides the student with an understanding of the business of video games with a special focus on game publishing, deal structures, and product lifecycle. Students learn to see the world through the publisher's eyes and in the process gain insight in how to plan, budget, pitch, launch, and monetize games. Students are exposed to these topics via lectures, exercises, and assignments. Students leave the course with a practical and state of the art of the game business including perspective on mobile games, console games, browser games, free to play games, and other business paradigms.

Usability Testing for Games

Usability testing enables game developers to systematically identify and resolve issues that detract from the player experience. Students learn and practice formal usability testing using real test subjects. Students learn best practices for how to get valid (non-skewed) data and how to communicate findings to a dev team effectively.

Art Direction for Game Developers

This course examines the role of visual design in building games. The course exposes students to the craft of the Art Director via a combination of theory and practice. Students learn basic skillset presentation (art history, color theory, composition, typography, basic digital media skills). Students learn to think about projects in terms of the constraints of technology, client needs, and end-user experience. The course covers basic UX/UI concepts. Students learn formal ideation and problem solving for visual design. Students learn to master the look and feel of an experience.

Mobile Game Design

This course exposes students to the intermediate technology of mobile games. Each student gets the experience of running her or his own game studio in collaboration with 1-4 classmates. Students deliver a working digital game at the end of the semester. Industry standards such as Agile, Scrum, Confluence, and JIRA expose students to state of the art production methods and enable teams to deliver software efficiently.

Students are supported by a technical instructor/mentor who assists with programming as an active member of their team.

Students take increasingly advanced variations of this course in the course of their degree so they will acquire more sophisticated skills each successive semester. At the end of the degree students will have a portfolio of working software projects.

Game Design Studio II

This is a companion to the Mobile Game Design class. Students work in teams to build their working digital game and receive individualized tutelage and direct coding support from their instructor. Students learn that they can produce working software—even with beginner skills in a short time. They sharpen their skills by practicing this process multiple times in the degree.

Level Design

In this class students work on paper and with level editor tools from commercial games to create high quality play experiences within existing games. Students learn and practice scripting to optimize the play experience including pacing, save points, ratio of obstacles versus power ups, and other game play concepts.

History of Video Games

This course focuses on the rich history of digital games starting with MIT's Spacewar from 1962 and showing how and why the medium transformed through the 1970s when Pong and Atari first had mass cultural impact—all the way through each successive era to today's world of connected consoles, smart phones, and Google Glass.

The Great Video Games

This course explores both the concept of games as art including opposing scholarly points of view. The artistic merits of commercial games is explored through case studies of seminal works. And the nascent field of art games is explored via a survey of the field.

3D Game Design

This course exposes students to the intermediate technology of 3D games. Each student gets the experience of running her or his own game studio in collaboration with 1-4 classmates. Students deliver a working digital game at the end of the semester. Industry standards such as Agile, Scrum, Confluence, and JIRA expose students to state of the art production methods and enable teams to deliver software efficiently.

Students are supported by a technical instructor/mentor who assists with programming as an active member of their team.

Students take increasingly advanced variations of this course in the course of their degree so they will acquire more sophisticated skills each successive semester. At the end of the degree students will have a portfolio of working software projects.

Game Design Studio III

This is a companion to the 3D Game Design class. Students work in teams to build their working digital game and receive individualized tutelage and direct coding support from their instructor. Students learn that they can produce working software—even with beginner skills in a short time. They sharpen their skills by practicing this process multiple times in the degree.

Narrative Design Workshop

This course examines the critical elements that make strong story concepts and how they can be shaped to create the foundations of great games. Students will design, narrative, game play, physical environment (world, gameplay spaces), and other key elements. Guest speakers will include veteran game designers and writers.

Multiplayer Game Design

This course exposes students to the advanced technology of networked multiplayer games. Each student gets the experience of running her or his own game studio in collaboration with 1-4 classmates. Students deliver a working digital game at the end of the semester. Industry standards such as Agile, Scrum, Confluence, and JIRA expose students to state of the art production methods and enable teams to deliver software efficiently.

Students are supported by a technical instructor/mentor who assists with programming as an active member of their team.

Students take increasingly advanced variations of this course in the course of their degree so they will acquire more sophisticated skills each successive semester. At the end of the degree students will have a portfolio of working software projects.

Game Design Studio IV

This is a companion to the Multiplayer Game Design class. Students work in teams to build their working digital game and receive individualized tutelage and direct coding support from their instructor. Students learn that they can produce working software – even with beginner skills in a short time. They sharpen their skills by practicing this process multiple times in the degree.

Business of Video Games

This course provides the students with an education in building a successful career in video games. The course educates the student about professional networking, portfolio presentation, roles in industry, career path from entry level to creative leader or business leader, and other hands-on knowledge pertinent to a professional game developer.

Free to Play Game Design

This course exposes students to the advanced technology of free to play games. Each student gets the experience of running his or her own game studio in collaboration with 1-4 classmates. Students deliver a working digital game at the end of the semester. Industry standards such as Agile, Scrum, Confluence, and JIRA expose students to-state-of-the art production methods and enable teams to deliver software efficiently.

Students are supported by a technical instructor/mentor who assists with programming as an active member of their team.

Students take increasingly advanced variations of this course in the course of their degree so they will acquire more sophisticated skills each successive semester. At the end of the degree students will have a portfolio of working software projects.

Game Design Studio V

This is a companion to the Free to Play Game Design class. Students work in teams to build their working digital game and receive individualized tutelage and direct coding support from their instructor. Students learn that they can produce working software—even with beginner skills in a short time. They sharpen their skills by practicing this process multiple times in the degree.

Marketing Video Games

This class builds on the foundation of the course Publishing Video Games with a focus on marketing. Students learn how to market their NYFA game titles—whether 2D, 3D, multiplayer, mobile, or other. Students learn the business side of marketing including how to make a marketing plan, calculate return on investment, develop data-driven reporting, conduct public relations, etc. Students learn about guerilla marketing techniques suitable to independent studios with no money. And they learn about the marketing techniques by top publishers for AAA titles.

Collaborative Thesis I

This hands-on two-semester course exposes students to the advanced responsibility of choosing her own technology (in collaboration with teammates) for her BFA thesis project. Each student gets the experience of running his or her own game studio in collaboration with 1-4 classmates. Students deliver a working digital game at the end of the semester. Industry standards such as Agile, Scrum, Confluence and JIRA expose students to state of the art production methods and enable teams to deliver software efficiently.

Students are supported by a technical instructor/mentor who assists with programming as an active member of their team.

Students take increasingly advanced variations of this course in the course of their degree so they will acquire more sophisticated skills each successive semester. At the end of the degree students will have a portfolio of working software projects.

Game Design Studio VI

This is a companion to the Collaborative Thesis I class. Students work in teams to build their working digital game and receive individualized tutelage and direct coding support from their instructor. Students learn that they can produce working software—even with beginner skills in a short time. They sharpen their skills by practicing this process multiple times in the degree.

Storyboarding

This course teaches the student how to communicate stories and ideas effectively using visual storyboarding. Students learn storyboarding best practices and practice the craft. Case studies are presented from animation, motion graphics, and interactive media. Students get hands on practice making storyboards for game concepts and formally test whether they communicate what the student intended to an audience. Students learn about rapid storyboarding using hand-drawn sketches as well as state of the art storyboarding software.

Collaborative Thesis II

This second semester of the BFA thesis project allows students to iterate and polish their work in collaboration with teammates.

Each student gets the experience of running her own game studio in collaboration with 1-4 classmates. Students deliver a working digital game at the end of the semester. Industry standards such as Agile, Scrum, Confluence and JIRA expose students to state of the art production methods and enable teams to deliver software efficiently.

Students are supported by a technical instructor/mentor who assists with programming as an active member of their team.

Students take increasingly advanced variations of this course in the course of their degree so they will acquire more sophisticated skills each successive semester. At the end of the degree students will have a portfolio of working software projects.

Game Design Studio VII

This is a companion to the Collaborative Thesis II class. Students work in teams to build their working digital game and receive individualized tutelage and direct coding support from their instructor. Students learn that they can produce working software—even with beginner skills in a short time. They sharpen their skills by practicing this process multiple times in the degree.