Game development Fundamentals in English

Our brand-new Game Development Fundamentals course is your launchpad into the exciting world of interactive entertainment. Whether you dream of crafting immersive worlds, designing engaging gameplay mechanics, or bringing compelling characters to life, this comprehensive program will equip you with the essential skills to start your journey.

This course is meticulously designed for aspiring game developers of all levels, even if you have no prior coding or design experience. We'll guide you step-by-step through the core concepts, utilizing the industry-leading Unity game engine. Get ready to roll up your sleeves and dive into a hands-on learning experience that will empower you to build your own games from the ground up.

The requested commitment: 1x per week class on saturday mornings on campus + repetition and practice at home. Each module ends with an exam. Upon successful completion of the exam, you will be awarded a module certificate.

Module 1: Programming for Game Engine

"Programming can be intimidating for any aspiring game developer: Unity employs C# for scripting, and a fundamental grasp of programming is essential to craft interactive and fully functional games and applications. But don't worry! This module provides you with a solid foundation in programming logic and C# syntax – think of it as your new coding vocabulary. You'll then apply your scripting skills directly within the game engine, and before you know it, you'll be controlling the fundamental parameters of your game world."

Delve into the essentials of the programming language (e.g., C#): keywords, statements, variables, data types, functions, conditional/iterative statements, lists, objects, and the power of Object-Oriented Programming (OOP).

Get hands-on with Game Engine Scripting: from language basics and scripting environments to game mechanics, logic systems, classes, methods, and implementation within the engine.

Discover design patterns, debugging techniques, basic movement scripting, prefabs, GameObject destruction, and coroutines for optimized performance.

Module 2: Game Environment Development

"A game engine can accelerate and simplify the development process because many of the complex technologies and systems needed to create a game are already built into the engine. In this module, you'll learn to recognize and use the interface, key concepts, and tools. CPU/GPU performance, sprites, NavMesh, collision detection... sounds like gibberish now, but once you set up a project, you'll encounter them all. Theory is immediately put into practice, because the best way to learn is by doing."

Master the game engine interface, viewport, and basic applications: sprites, transforms, parenting, assets, collisions, physics, UI, materials, and the asset store.

Learn to start projects, manage asset datatypes, import and optimize models and animations, control memory usage, and effectively use cameras and rendering pipelines.

Develop game environments while considering technical design requirements: performance optimization (CPU/GPU), sprites, lighting and shadows, collision detection, textures, tilemap systems, navigation (e.g., NavMesh), physics engines, and shaders.

Essentially, if you have a spark of interest in game creation and are willing to learn, this course is designed for you. We don't assume any prior programming knowledge and provide a supportive learning environment to guide you through the fundamentals.

However, A solid understanding of mathematics and English is required. You must have obtained at least an ASO (general secondary education) or TSO (technical secondary education) diploma with a sufficient number of mathematics hours. You are fluent in English as this course will be English only.

You must be 18 or older in order to attend this course.

Do bring your own PC or MAC to class please. A minimum of 16gig RAM and a modern processor is required.

Upon completing this course, you'll be equipped to technically develop a basic game environment in a game engine and apply fundamental programming skills to create interactive elements within scenes and levels, setting the stage for creating your own games.