While many Timber Creek High School students might enjoy playing games, there are a few that spend their class time actually creating them.
Video Game Design is a class that is pretty self explanatory; students enrolled design and program their own video games. Despite the common misconception, it is actually a challenging class, made for those who are technically creative – those who like to use technology to create their art.
“It’s an introduction course, the students first learn modeling, then animation, and finally programming,” says Mr. Johnson, the course teacher.
Johnson said students interested in gaming, programming, and designing would enjoy the experiences in class.
“There is a payoff to this class, which is the best part. Once the student learns how to write a code, they immediately see it in action,” says Johnson.
When asked about the most exciting parts of the class, Johnson said, “Building a 3-D world is probably the most fun, that’s what the students are doing now.”
Johnson mentioned actually building the video game, learning the technical basics of it, and then actually playing it was one of the exciting elements of the course.
“I want students who are interested in taking this course to know that they are jumping in the deep end with this class,” Johnson casually warned. “It’s definitely not an easy class, but there is a payoff. And that payoff is worth it.”
This year, Timber Creek video game design is competing in UIL competitions for the first time ever. There, they will create a three-level game, where the first-player game format must have two lives.
More details regarding video game design UIL competitions are coming soon. For those interested in this course, ask a counselor or visit Mr. Johnson in room N201.
