Learn Video Game Design and Programming by Attending a Summer Camp

The industry of video game design is an extraordinarily creative industry and very similar to the Hollywood movie making industry. A diverse group of people with a lot of different skills work together as a team to create a movie, and the same thing happens in the creation of a video game.

The Industry needs, and actively looks for people that are highly creative, great team players, and highly skilled in a variety of disciplines. This is a fact of life in the world of making games and it is a dramatic change from industries that have been around a long time. This is not our father's work world. It is exactly these three components that a summer camp offers a teen. It gives the attendees a creative environment where teamwork is developed and specific computer skills are learned.

If you are considering going to a camp for designing games there are a couple of things you should think about. First of all, the world of game making is very diverse and there are a lot of different programs and applications that can be used, so you have to consider what areas of game making you are interested and then look for a camp that covers that. A good example of what I mean is that you can learn how to design levels, program code, make java games, create 3d models, or any number of other things. There are also quite a few different programs that you could master from 3ds MAX for modeling to FPS Creator for level and game design. And what you want to do in the realm of game making will determine which skills and applications you should learn.

So, you should carefully consider what kinds of things about making video games appeal to you and try to find a camp that will fill that requirement. If you are a parent considering sending a teen or child to a camp you should spend time talking with him or her about what is interesting about video games. Chances are good he or she will know more about making games than you do. Your teen may like three-dimensional modeling, graphic design, writing or level design. This is a big factor in whether the camp will be a success or not. It's a matter of fulfilling individual goals and needs.

Your first course of action in looking for a summer camp should be to check with your local University or Community College. Just about every institution like this has summer learning programs for kids and teens. And unless you are already a student there you probably would never learn about the programs being offered so all it takes is a phone call and a request for a brochure. If geographic location is not a big concern for you there are plenty of top grade institutions that offer one week or two week long programs.

Summer camps are a great way to immerse a teen or child in the highly creative world of video game design and programming. It is a great way to get a feel for the career potential in the industry. And as a bonus he or she is actually going to come home from the camp with a real and complete video game that he or she made!

Visit the authors website for real step-by step tutorials on how to make video games (for free): Make-Video-Games.com
You can also find more information about computer summer camps and links to colleges that offer them.

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Make Your Own Video Games For PCs and Consoles

Recently there has been a demand for tools which will allow the user to create video games for the PC and consoles. In the last few years many options have become available, and in this article I will outline a few of them. I will also cover some of the terminology of this subject, and provide some alternatives to creating your own games on the PC.

Make Your Own Video Games for Consoles:

The only console system you can currently make games for is the Xbox 360. To do so you need to download XNA and join their "Creator's Club" for $99.00 a year. XNA has been designed to be fairly easy to use, but some programming experience is required.

Make Your Own Video Games for the PC:

There are many options if you want to make your own games on the PC. The first thing you need to know is the difference between a game engine, and a GCS (Game Creation System.)

Game Engines:

A video game engine is just that, an engine. Few if any tools come with it, so some programming is required. There are many commercial engines available such as the Unreal Engine or CryEngine 2, and almost as many free alternatives. Crystal Space 3D and the Irrlicht Engine are examples of the later.

GCSs:

If you don't want to mess with any programming you need a GCS. A GCS packages a video game engine along with a variety of tools which can be used to make a game. There are a lot of commercial options, such as Torque or Gamestudio, but no comprehensive free or open source alternatives. Delta 3D is one such choice, but you will need additional tools to create games with it.

I should also mention that GCSs may not be a perfect fit for your particular needs when making a game for the PC. Most game developers use many custom tools tailor made for their needs as a result. So your best bet is to use tools that are specialized for different aspects of game development. You will need a good programming environment, a good image editor, a good sound and music editor, and a good modeling animation studio.

The current industry standard modeling and animation studios are 3DS Max and Maya. However True Space and Blender both provide excellent free alternatives, and are backed by large, supportive communities. The industry standard image editing programs are Paint Shop Pro and Adobe Photoshop, but the free alternatives Gimp and Paint.NET will work just as well. Expensive programs like Cakewalk are used for the creation of music and sounds, but Audacity is a free alternative. The best free programming environment is Microsoft Visual Studio Express.

Making video games requires a lot of work, but with the right tools it can be done fairly quickly and easily. Now that you know what tools to look for, it should be a lot easier to find what you need.

Robert Grazian is an accomplished niche website developer and author. To learn more about video games visit My PC Video Games for current articles and discussions.

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