Each day consisted of the same basic format.
Improv
Before starting on game design, we would work with an instructor on our Improv skills. The reason for this was to get our brains going, and also to teach us to always be ready for anything thrown at you in your designing.
Game Design
For the first 2 days, we went over basic tips for our program we were using. The first day we learned how to make a top down shooter, which was a spaceship controlled by the arrow keys. You would shoot aliens and try to score points, a really basic arcade game. The second day we learned how to make a Mario like platformer game. This was a bit more complex, because you had to work with computer controlled enemies a bit more than the last one.
Lunch
We would eat lunch at a place called Strawberry Square, which is basically a mall. There were a lot of option for food, and I had something different almost everyday. I can't remember what I ate during my entire week there, but I remember getting Subway, pizza, Mexican, and calzones.
More Design
On the first day, the coordinator for the program helped us learn how to create rules and an object to your game, then he split us up into groups of 2. After we had our teams, we thought of 3 different games that the camp counselors would choose from. The game that they chose for my teammate and me was a Tank Racing game. For the days following, we worked on our game pretty much the entire day.
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We then went home and continued the next day.
On the final day, each team presented to the parents and their friends, their games. They then got to play them all.
Afterwards, the counselors had a surprise for us. There was a game truck parked outside. If you don't know that a game truck is, it's a truck that has couches and consoles to play video games for as long as you want. We had the truck for 2 hours, and man was it fun!
Afterwards, the counselors had a surprise for us. There was a game truck parked outside. If you don't know that a game truck is, it's a truck that has couches and consoles to play video games for as long as you want. We had the truck for 2 hours, and man was it fun!
The game I made with my friend was really challenging to make, but we liked how it came out. This camp was really great for me, I loved learning, meeting new people, and the Improv was pretty fun.
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| Me getting ready to go |
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| Asher (my partner) and me, presenting our game |
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| The game truck |
2 comments:
It's so fun to read these! I really loved seeing the evolution of your thoughts on improv throughout the week. It went something like:
Day 1 - They start with improv. It's kind of weird. It doesn't seem to have anything to do with game design.
Day 3 - It's actually pretty fun and it helps.
Day 5 - I can totally see why they do this now!
And I think that is just awesome. I loved seeing your excitement for the learning you did in this camp. And everyone seems so nice there, too. You did a fantastic job on your presentation as well.
I got such a scattered account of the days based on if I was at work when you got home or something, so it's nice to read everything in order right here! I had no clue a game truck even existed before you got to use it. That's such a cool idea. I would've thought improv was weird, too, for something like this. Glad you had fun!
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