NEWS

Game Launch showcases student-designed games

May 15, 2014 | General News, Liberal Arts

Eight students. Three games. One opportunity to play them all. Students enrolled in Jerry Berg’s game design class at Louisiana Tech University will offer Tech and Ruston community members a chance to play the video games they have designed during spring quarter. This is the second game design class Berg has offered this year, and he said the students had a chance to work on more intricate parts of their games this time. “In the fall, it was a grand experiment,” Berg said. “The computer science students came in with the knowledge they already had to design the games. Now we’re using a game engine – Unity –  which is what most companies use. The students are able to focus on details.” The class is already interdisciplinary, as computer science students work alongside design majors, and Berg said he plans to expand the class in the fall, anticipating a need to compose music for the games and to market the games. The students will present their work during the Game Launch, which will be from 7-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 21 in University Hall. Individuals will have a chance to play and vote on their favorite games. Jacob Newton, a design graduate student from Ruston, said the class has offered him an opportunity to broaden his educational horizons. “I wanted to break out of my comfort zone of web design and do more interactive design,” Newton said. “The best part has been working up concepts for the games, writing story lines and working on concept art.” Beta testers, including faculty and students from the university, played the games Wednesday, giving the students a week to edit the games. “From the feedback, they’ll be able to massage their games,” Berg said. “These games are definitely going to be fuller than what we were able to accomplish last time. “