[game_edu] summary of IGDA roundtable at the GDC

[katie]

as promised (albeit a bit delayed) here are my notes
on the roundtable discussion held at the GDC this
year.

katie


.   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .
The Education(s) of a Game Designer
IGDA Roundtable at the GDC
Moderated by Katie Salen

Summary

Roundtable 1:
There were 85 people present for this session. Roughly
40% were from the game industry, 40% from academia,
10% were students, and 10% came from the publishing
industry.

The group began by brainstorming a list of primary
questions worth exploring:
1. What is “game design?” How do we define it within
the field; how is it being defined within game
curricula?
2. What are different teaching methods being used by
those teaching in game design programs? What is the
balance of work between digital and paper-based games?
3. What is the most effective way for students to
present their skill-set to employers?
4. Who should teach in the newly emerging game design
and game development programs? Academics? People from
industry? Where will all of the teachers come from
with such a huge growth in new programs?
5. What are qualities that students need to be
successful within the industry? What kinds of skills
and characteristics are employers looking for?
6. How might the value of design be further
evangelized, both within academia and within the
industry?
7. How can game design be legitimized as a degree, and
as a field of academic study? What strategies have
people used to argue for the creation of new programs
within their institutions?

The primary focus of the conversation was on what
forms and bodies of knowledge students studying games
and game design need. Specialized vs. generalized
degrees were discussed, with the bulk of participants
pointing to the need for an intensely
cross-disciplinary education where students learn
communication skills, technical writing, how to work
in and manage teams, and how to operate within a game
production pipeline. No specific conclusions were
drawn, other than there is obviously a huge need to
people to share resources and compare approaches.

The group then identified a list of existing and
needed resources, that the IGDA might help support:

Existing Resources:
IGDA Curriculum framework
(http://www.igda.org/academia/curriculum_framework.php)
Futureplay.org
EA is making Renderware free for academic programs
Popcap.com has free software available
SecondLife available for free use within courses
Mod community/open source community

Needed Resources:
A return of the Academic Summit at the GDC
IDGA education-focused list (done!)
Composite list of software and technologies available
for use
Archive of game design/game production documents 
Mentorship program
Set of standards for programs: what is the baseline
knowledge needed to grant a degree?
Annotated bibliography of game design/game development
resources


Roundtable Day 2:
There were 45 people present for this session. Roughly
30% were from the game industry, 50% from academia,
and 20% were students.

After a quick summary of the previous day's
conversation, the group came up with four questions
they were most interested in exploring:

1. What is the difference between “game design” and
“game development?”
2. Are their differences in what a student should be
learning if they plan to work in Europe vs. the US,
for example. Are programs geographically specific?
3. What types of degrees exist and where are they
located within the college or university structure?
4. Are there too many programs? Should standards be
put in place to control or at least create consistency
across programs?
5. What is the role of research?

The group decided to start with the first question, by
asking the same question from a slightly different
angle: Whom are we educating? More specifically, who
are we NOT educating within a curriculum focused in
game design?
1. Not artists
2. Not programmers
3. Not developers: they are more focused on process,
programming, and the business side of things

Participants felt like we WERE educating:
1. People who design game play; connected to other
types of designers: systems designers, UI designers,
world designers, level designers
2. People who can define and carry through a vision
working with a team
3. People who are strong interaction designers
4. People who understand the psychology of players,
understanding motivations, styles of play, etc.
5. Designers: the degree should be a DESIGN degree


The conversation then shifted focus. What does a game
designer need to know?
1. Some level of programming, in order to 
a. prototype and 
b. have a shared language with the programmers on the
team
2. Psychology 
3. Some 3D (in order to be familiar with skills of
others on the team)
4. Game mechanics
5. Common language, shared vocabulary
6. Philosophy/theory of game design
7. Strong process with ties to production pipeline
(brainstorming, storyboarding, prototyping, etc.)
8. How to critically analyze games; know the history
of games
9. Iterative process with strong prototyping skills
10. History and sociology of entertainment
11. Understanding of the industry 
12. How to write design documents
13. How to work in teams
14. How to work with a range of game
editors/technologies
15. Probability theory, game theory, systems theory
16. Game tuning

Other needs:
1. Diverse skills set/strongly interdisciplinary
2. Chance to work on both short term and long term
projects
3. Chance to work within a range of roles on small
teams
4. How to do research and figure problems out on their
own
5. How to communicate their ideas to others
6. Critical thinking/synthesis skills

The most controversial topic that came up was whether
or not it was valuable to even offer a degree in game
design at the undergraduate level. Some participants
felt like students should get a degree in Liberal Arts
or Computer Science with a minor in Game Design,
rather than pursuing a bachelor’s in game design.
Other participants felt the opposite, that the degree
should be in game design, with a minor in other areas,
like CS or History.