{"180621":{"#nid":"180621","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Game Group Showcases Student-led Creations","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EEvent image courtesy Sho Kitamura of \u003C\/em\u003ETechnique\u003Cem\u003E. \u003Cstrong\u003EAnjana Kallarackal\u003C\/strong\u003E, a \u003Cstrong\u003EScience, Technology, and Culture\u003C\/strong\u003E major, contributed to this report.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGames aren\u2019t much without people engaged in playing them. Just try paying for your next latte with Monopoly money. The student group VGDev hosted its first original game demo night on November 16, 2012 in Clough Commons to test out eight new game concepts on real users.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EApproximately 20 different laptops, a few smart phones, iPads, and a steering wheel were set up with working models of various video games in genres that included racing, adventure, shooting, RPG, puzzles, and simulations - all created entirely by Georgia Tech students.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EVGDev is a student-led, student-driven campus group that\u2019s now in its fourth semester. It was founded by \u003Cstrong\u003EChris DeLeon\u003C\/strong\u003E, a spring 2012 masters graduate and a current doctoral student of the Digital Media program at the \u003Cstrong\u003ESchool of Literature, Media, and Communication\u003C\/strong\u003E (LMC). The group brings together students to develop game concepts on their own time, outside of class requirements. This provides industry experience for prospective game developers and project leads, freedom for exploration outside of classroom requirements, and a lesson in time management.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMatthew Guzdial\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;is the current semester speaker for the group.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIn VGDev we build video games from the ground up. That obviously involves a lot of computer science, but also a huge amount of music composition, sound effect creation, digital art, traditional art, 3D modeling, and all types of interaction design,\u201d said the computational media major, a joint studies program between the College of Computing and LMC. \u201cTo be able to create any video game one must put oneself at this intersection, viewing user experience problems from both a design and computer science perspective.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhen a user gets tripped up in a game, it could be caused by either a technical glitch or an interface which doesn\u2019t clearly communicate the necessary steps.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGood game design means considering options from all along this spectrum,\u201d said Guzdial. He feels his major has helped him both to be able to create effective designs and \u201cunderstand how to implement complex computational systems to make use of them.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe VGDev Campus Demo Night provided student gamers that chance to run their new game concepts by a fresh audience for impartial review. Feedback always pays off, said Guzdial.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI know I personally like nothing better than to watch someone enjoying a game I helped make. It\u2019s an absolutely exhilarating, heart-warming experience that somehow makes the game seem so much more real.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EVGDev meets weekly on Thursdays, 4:45 \u2013 6pm in DM Smith 105.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGames aren\u2019t much without people engaged in playing them. Just try paying for your next latte with Monopoly money. The student group VGDev hosted its first original game demo night on November 16, 2012 in Clough Commons to test out eight new game concepts on real users.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"27663","created_gmt":"2013-01-07 11:47:32","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:13:26","author":"Rebecca Rolfe","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-11-19T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2012-11-19T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"180641":{"id":"180641","type":"image","title":"VGDev Demo Night","body":null,"created":"1449179053","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:44:13","changed":"1475894825","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:05","alt":"VGDev Demo Night","file":{"fid":"196026","name":"vgdev1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/vgdev1_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/vgdev1_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":91492,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/vgdev1_0.jpg?itok=1zfs35m1"}},"180651":{"id":"180651","type":"image","title":"VGDev","body":null,"created":"1449179053","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:44:13","changed":"1475894825","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:05","alt":"VGDev","file":{"fid":"196027","name":"vgdev2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/vgdev2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/vgdev2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":103570,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/vgdev2_0.jpg?itok=YRUzHPCL"}}},"media_ids":["180641","180651"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/vgdev.org\/","title":"VGDev"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?feature=player_embedded\u0026v=sefqhLdmKGw","title":"Fall 2012 Game Showcase"}],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"54161","name":"VGDev"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERebecca Keane\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-1720\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}