Re: [G4C] Getting HS students to create G4C

[Laura Minnigerode]

I replied directly to Vincent, but also wanted to post this link here for others that might find it helpful:

http://amc.pori.tut.fi/game-building-tools/

Is a really good resource for comparing game building tools for students.

hth!
Laura

twitter: @lauraminaustin

On Thu, Feb 14, 2013 at 9:15 AM, Vincent Day <Vi...@sch.org> wrote:

I'm the director of technology and part time teachers at SCH Academy in Philadelphia that has been teaching an intro. to game design course for a few weeks now.  Our class started with Gamestar Mechanic so students could gain an understanding of the fundamentals of game design and the core components.  We are now to a point where we want to create games that matter, so G4C seems like a great opportunity.  At this point, I'm looking for guidance on tools to use and how to begin this process.  Any information on resources that you could share with me? My students love to create game, but I need to get them motivated to create games with goals other than shooting or sports related.  Maybe I'm not proficient enough but Gamestar doesn't seem like the best platform for this type of game design. Ultimately, we would love to start entering games to 2013 National Stem Video Game Challenge.  

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Laura Minnigerode

512-350-2815

[Karen Michaelson]

We have been using GameMaker for a number of years. We start with it directly instead of Gamestar Mechanic. Our games have a STEM focus. We find that students from 6th grade up can do GameMaker, if you begin the leaning with instruction on design elements. We've been doing this for years...and would be happy to share curriculum if you contact me directly.

Karen L. Michaelson, Ph.D.
Senior Researcher
Tincan
1317 West Second Avenue
Spokane, WA 99201
509-744-0972
Fax: 509-744-1120
Email: kmich...@asisna.com
www.tincan.org

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[Winston Wolff]

I think Scratch is a great system for building games. It's very accessible for middle school kids. I don't know how old your kids are though. For middle school kids, I've found they have difficulty planning a game and not designing something too big for them to make. So I generally shy away from having them design beforehand. Instead I have them just play with Scratch and they come up with something good at the end.

If you are teaching high school, I'd imagine they are mature enough to design a G4C. By high school, a language like http://processing.org or http://processingjs.org might be good.

-Winston