On Friday, January 29th, Flashpoint Academy students across multiple disciplines came together to join in a worldwide event called the “Global Game Jam 2010″ held at universities and game studios around the world (well over 1000 participants are now working in 38 countries! — these crazy people are known as “jammers”). At Flashpoint’s sound stage in Chicago’s Merchandise Mart we started a 48-hour marathon to build games according to parameters kept secret from our jammers until the launch of the event at Flashpoint at the start of their 48-hour adventure. Jammers at Flashpoint are working in teams of about ten students to build these games by 3 pm on Sunday local time.

This year the theme is “deception” and jammers must include one or more of the following in their games: a man, a plan or a canal. Key outcomes include providing an intense opportunity for jammers to collaborate and work together in “crunch mode” doing what they love doing…making games. This is not a school assignment and it is not a business-driven game studio console game effort. These jammers are the true artists of the future. This weekend will stay for them for the rest of their lives.

We have a few special guest “judges” for the end of the weekend where we will allow the teams an opportunity to present their games to the judges. Teams will be awarded recognition in different areas, but only one game will get trophies for top honors here.

I started the ball rolling at Flashpoint after we had a student team join in with the wonderful people at DePaul who graciously invited them to be a part of the experience there in January of 2009. We would have been there again this year but we had such high interest here that we had to set up our own location. After months of preparation and the efforts and dedication by a really enthusiastic team of staff and faculty…here we are, starting up day 2. I am honored to be directing our location, but I could not have done it without them — and without our really amazing students who surprise me from time to time when they finally realize that they have the potential to do anything in the world they want to do.

I came across this really great piece — it is short — but there is part of it that is in my view rather important for game developers in training and indeed anyone working to prepare for tomorrow’s digital media careers — “…the nature of the game industry [is] one that requires DaVincis — not in the sense that only geniuses of DaVinci’s caliber can succeed, but that like DaVinci, successes in the industry are people with a diverse group of interests who are constantly working to master and refine their singular core skills. This was as DaVinci did with painting throughout his life. He also pointed out that DaVinci was not an overnight success, but a man who began his career with years of apprenticeship. ‘What is presented to us about games and game designers are little sound bite moments that only talk about went right,’ said Daglow. The stories of long years in the trenches, like medieval apprentices had, and public fumbles, strikeouts and errors of judgment and moments of doubt like those borne by professional athletes are also part of a long career — unless, of course, you quit. ‘If you quit,’ Daglow joked, ‘you won’t have a long career. I can prove that to you mathematically.’ He also emphasized the need for team skills…”

For the full piece, click here.

One of our second year game development students, Patrick Mousel, has won yet another game design challenge from the Game Career Guide !

This is an important, highly visible industry competition, and is part of http://www.gamasutra.com, THE central website for the game industry. This work was executed in conjunction with the second year Focused Game Design course lead by Richard Coons.

Recently, a Game Design Challenge asked you to create a fantasy game for game development. Fantasy sports are one of the biggest games around, and what’s interesting is many people don’t consider them games or their players to be gamers.

The heart of fantasy sports lies in tying real-world performance of something (such as an athlete) to points. Players of fantasy sports have to gauge the real world in some way to win with their game, and that’s what the best entries did in response to this challenge.

There are multiple ways to tie real-world performance to a fantasy game in the game industry. One way is to draft actual developers, and they can be rated by history. For example, Shigeru Miyamoto could be rated 10 in game design, where as Manveer Heir may be ranked 1. To get at these ratings, we can consider factors such as titles shipped, years of experience, and quality of titles (based on Metacritic scores, for example), to name a few.

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Last week we wrapped up the first year at Flashpoint Academy in Chicago, a new digital arts and sciences school redefining education for professionals — training them in skills vital for modern entertainment and business in today’s world. In the game department, dozens of game students, guided by several seasoned industry professionals, have worked hard in building games and creating game designs, 3D models, original game levels, game music, and learning the production and workflow behind today’s game efforts. Most of these projects have been conducted within team settings where communication, leadership and personal responsibility are keys to success. And like getting pushed out of a nest, nobody seems quite ready for the shock of it all. When things go wrong, there’s plenty of blame to go around. When the dust clears, the birds in flight are the ones who relied on themselves, listened to directions, and worked hard to deliver what was expected and even beyond. And for those whose achievements were not so great, we are patient and guiding, pushing you to get off the ground. You can do it. You will do it. Persist and work hard. For everyone, in collecting materials for the end-of-year portfolio gathering assignment, ultimately there is a collective gasp. Wow. What we’ve done. What we’ve learned. For some, perhaps, who are farther along in the learning process, they know that the next thought should be: Even with all that we’ve done, what can we do better? What more can we do now? So, now that this first year is complete, we’re ready to face tomorrow with the experience and knowledge that will most ensure victory at the end of the journey – at the end of the two years, each student will have new skills and industry experience that will make them ideal leading candidates for positions in a variety of areas in game development, visual effects, film, sound engineering, and broadcasting. Let’s get to work.

As a part of this industry, it is a requirement that I play current games. Mostly I want to capture the essence of the experience, to appreciate the play mechanic or technology or story, and so playing a game for 100 hours is really not necessary. As a game creator, it is vital to do this on a regular basis for a variety of reasons.

In the last six months I have only fully completed a few major console games (in campaign mode – Halo 3, Call of Duty 4, Portal, to name a few), and I am well on my way to completing Crisis Core on the PSP. Many games have gone unfinished (an hour or two in, or maybe five or six hours in). But in the last week I have taken a side step into Grand Theft Auto IV’s Liberty City and I want to talk about it, because I think I am going to try to finish this one.

So far, I have about six hours of game playing time. There are a hundred points of statistics that the game captures while you are playing (but these aren’t important for you as you are playing, just sort of interesting all the same). The game says I have completed %12 of the missions. If this is true, it will take me a long time to get to the end because I only play a few hours per week.

So far, here’s why I am living a few hours per week in Liberty City:

This game is the single biggest entertainment launch in history across all mediums.

This game has a very high metacritic score — the quality of the game is the pinnacle of today’s marketplace in terms of technology and user experience.

The writing is amazing. Among the best dialogue written yet in this medium.

The physical mo-cap acting is really great.

The universe is realized in stunning detail. One word: EPIC.

The music is perfect.

The player’s sense of power over the environment and over “people” absolutely impacts real-world self-esteem and stress in a more powerful way because of the high level of “realism” in this generation of game technology. This is really fascinating to experience personally.

Employing this power over the environment and over “people” is a choice. Do you randomly kill “people” or do you simply play the story line?
Game developers at Flashpoint Academy are discussing this product daily right now, sharing experiences and discussing how the game could have been improved. One thing we all agree upon: young people should absolutely not have this game. This is purely adult entertainment — 18+ for sure. If you know anybody with an Xbox 360 or PS3 with children in the house, lock this game up!

In our final Year One Game Project Production course at Flashpoint Academy, two game teams are building up for a sprint to the finish. Time is short. Resources are limited. Critical design and planning decisions are in progress right now. Can everyone pull it off? The student team leads are kicking into gear under faculty guidance to make things happen, and work on the next big milestone is under way.

There are some really invaluable pieces of advice your new game team should keep in mind, and it is truly important for our students to follow these points as they work on these final year one projects in our game studio.

1. Keep it simple.

Why keep the game simple? Well, the reasons for keeping it simple mostly point to limiting production risks and alternatively potentially making the game more accessible and possibly more fun (and then…more successful, and maybe even complete). Production risks can include getting in over your head in terms of how much time it will take to complete various tasks along the way both in the creation of assets and in the development of technology. Further, it is easy to get “ambitious” in the creative process without a real market need for features or eye candy or to serve the core of the product’s unique selling advantage. This can often times only be assessed after considerable work has been done on a game, after which point it might be too late to fix major problems or reach the deadlines.

2. Remove production bottlenecks.

Some main issues here center on management and technology. Appropriate delegation of tasks and oversight really make a huge difference in the efficiency of various teams. Big projects require lots of hands in the mix. They all have to work together and use the tools in concert. This means that everyone needs to be on the same page, and people need to promote the utmost in mature communication and professionalism. On the technology fronts, it is key to make game content data driven. With small projects and inexperienced developers, this is often a critical point of failure, usually leading to people saying, “Oh, we have to wait for the programmer…again.” When fifteen people are waiting for one person to get something done, that is NOT good. Plus, most game teams have or require people to be dynamic and willing to do more than one particular thing. Pitching in as much as possible on the critical tasks at hand wherever they exist as directed by the team leads is a normal process in game studios. When team leads don’t do their job, express your concerns to others in a positive and appropriate manner. Your feedback may prove helpful to everyone.

3. Work hard and make the deadlines.

Okay, this seems like a simple piece of advice. But here’s what you must do: Listen. Take notes. Prioritize. Focus. Complete the tasks. Review the work. Communicate and collaborate (don’t just make random decisions on your own — check with your team or you manager! Chances are you can use some advice on how to tackle things, especially the first time).

So, in short, remember these three words and it will help you along the way:

“Simple”
“Bottlenecks”
“Deadlines”

Good luck teams!

Flashpoint students attended Chicago’s private preview screening of Iron Man on Monday, April 28th at AMC 21 River East Theater.

Pictured from Left to Right:

Simeon Peebler, Chair of  Game Development, FPA

And from High Voltage:

Matt Corso, Creative Director

Michael Metz, Audio Video Director

Joe Hamell, Lead Artist

Students work on a variety of key projects for the Game Art I and Virtual World Development I courses at Flashpoint Academy.

Edgar & Ellen Website