Iowa State Video Game Design

Student Testimonial: Iowa State University

By Greg Wohlwend [10.16.07] I attend Iowa State University (ISU) in Ames, Iowa and while the middle of a statewide cornfield doesn't exactly scream "Silicon Valley," the game development opportunities here in central Iowa are expanding. At Iowa State, there is no specific program or degree for game development, but there are a number of electives that provide interested students with the tools to explore their own development. The real strength of ISU's game curriculum is its Human Computer Interaction (HCI) graduate program, specifically the research going on in the Virtual Reality Applications Center.

I came to ISU as a transfer student looking for admission into the rigorous design program, specifically graphic design. Compared to fine arts programs at R-1 universities or liberal arts colleges, the design practice at this land grant university is geared toward pragmatic design skills for use in the real world rather than conceptual fine arts and theory.

When I transferred, I knew I wanted to design video games after graduation. So I started on the ground floor with graphic, web, or interface design by utilizing the school's design curriculum, which would hopefully lead to game design later in my career.

The core design classes were extremely challenging and competitive. In my industrial design course (DSN 102) more than 60 percent of the people dropped out after four weeks, and of the remaining students, only three made it into graphic design. In order to get into one of the selective programs (graphic design, landscape architecture, architecture, or interior design) the general plan was to work yourself sick, not sleep, and consume mass quantities of vending machine foods. I loved this cut-throat way of working and the ensuing competition, which had a lot to do with my acceptance into the graphic design program.

Many of the projects in the introductory design studios were open-ended and conceptual, qualities that would continue into later courses in graphic design and inform all my subsequent studios. This exploratory approach to design provided a well-rounded understanding of the underlying elements of design, as opposed to a more practical approach of designing for specific clients, advertisers, or marketers.

Along with the hefty graphic design core classes, I decided soon after my acceptance to pursue a career in game development head on, whether on my own, in a student club, or with the assistance of faculty at ISU. The summer before my second semester at Iowa State, I drew up case studies on my favorite games, breaking down their elements. Out of that analysis came my first pet project, one that I would explore for the next four semesters in an experimental game development studio: 409X.

The 409X course acted as a blank-slate playground for students to collaborate across disciplines and work on projects that we all hoped would to turn into a viable game concept or demo. The first generation made a game called Treefort Wars, which they submitted to the Independent Games Festival and placed as student finalists. The way I understand it, their success was largely attributed to their talented team of stars, and their tireless work ethic. They went on to later form Annex Studios, which then dissolved and reformed in Cedar Falls, Iowa as 8monkey Labs .

My classmates and I made up the late second generation of this course. Our 409X class wasn't as successful, largely due to our lack of technical expertise compared to the first generation's. The majority of the students in my first two semesters were plucked from the Integrated Studio Arts program, so the class was rife with concept art, but lacked programmers to do anything with it. Only some of the students were moderately skilled at modeling, and fewer still could animate and rig those models. Modeling and animation courses are hard to come by for video game development.

The professors do their best to collaborate with the game development students on problems they may be having in 409X on the modeling or animation side. However the curriculum as a whole is not supported well enough to warrant comprehensive training.

From left: Mike Boxleiter, Ted Martens, Greg Wohlwend, and Josh Larson after hours in the Virtual Reality Application Cernter.

My last semester of 409X was by far the most successful due to a few changes in the curriculum. The co-chair of Art & Design introduced Torque Game Engine and Torque Game Builder in hopes of reducing our need for programmers. This tool worked well for us up to a point: the personnel on the scripting side of YOMI (our game) didn't make strides toward a playable demo, although it was close. While the course was cluttered with extraneous curriculum and "too many unknowns," that is the nature of an experimental course, and I do believe that it will improve each semester.

Regardless of past studios, the game development discipline at Iowa State is a route that must be carved out by each individual. Making the games that we geek out to is a dream for many creative people -- even non-creative people -- and to think that this university, or really any other, will hold your hand the whole way through is naïve and potentially disastrous.

The university experience hinges on learner self-reliance as well as cross-pollination of concepts covering many different subjects. This is tremendously helpful in the video game art form where so many different disciplines merge into one cohesive experience. While game-specific colleges and programs impart specialized knowledge that's exciting and empowering, the academic study in a BA degree can prove itself invaluable in a variety of areas necessary for different stages of development and creative life in general.

With that said, there is light at the end of the tunnel in the form of the Virtual Reality Applications Center (VRAC), and you don't have to wait until the end if you can find a job as an undergraduate. VRAC offers a two-year graduate program that includes a great deal of independent research in the field of virtual experience. This includes games, which constitutes a large part of research at VRAC. Wireless controllers, stereoscopic goggles, Nerf guns (during breaks), Nintendo DSs, Xbox 360s, Wiis, and miles of white boards cover the student labs. The space takes up two floors, located in Howe Hall, which is literally the home to some of the most brilliant people on campus from many different technical disciplines, and almost everyone can code. I started working there in Spring 2007 and have absorbed a great deal, including making the switch from C4D to Maya, working with the Unreal 3 Editor on materials and environment design, learning Actionscript 2.0 and the basics of OOP. Most important, I've met and worked with plenty of incredible students, two of whom joined me to form our own game development company, Intuition.

Currently, I am studying in ISU's Rome Studio, working remotely with the Intuition team on Dinowaurs (see concept art at left), a casual web-based multiplayer Flash game. This brings up the matter of dusting off my soapbox: When entering this field, even if you don't go to school, try to design a simple game, maybe with Flash or Game Builder. I know it's alluring to work on that opus you've been writing in your head ever since you killed Emerald Weapon, and that's fine, but keep it to yourself until you learn a bit more about how games are actually made. That's the important part right now.

Also, in my case, the university experience delivered such a broad knowledge of the humanities and arts that not only was it extremely helpful, but it also supplied me with a real thirst for learning. This appetite for knowledge couldn't be more important in the tech-drenched industry of games, offering new technologies and methods sometimes weekly. Why else would we have so many conferences?

If you're just interested in designing cooler aliens, or want to start producing games as soon as possible, the university might be the wrong fit for you, but if you want to change the meaning of the term "video game," I implore you to consider the comprehensive education a serious university can offer. At ISU, I found people not only interested in making video games, but also innovating and transforming the field at an exciting time in the industry's history. It was different fields of learning -- American Indian studies, philosophy, science, Faulkner, design, and art history -- that provided me the context and tools that will elevate this trade above its current state into an art form.

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Greg Wohlwend is a student at Iowa State University , majoring in graphic design with a minor in digital media. He has a blog about Dinowaurs and about game development in the state of Iowa at www.blog.intuitiongames.com. To learn more about his work, or to investigate his use of the word "rife" and other tiny clever words, visit his personal site, www.gregwohlwend.com .

*Disclaimer: This testimonial of Iowa State University was written without influence from the institution or GameCareerGuide.com staff. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. GameCareerGuide.com does not endorse educational institutions or programs. The factual correctness of this article is the responsibility of the author, and readers are advised to check all official web sites for updated information.