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ULL to Offer Classes in Video Game Design Student Club Pushed for Concentration

Posted on: Monday, 15 November 2004, 18:00 CST

LAFAYETTE - Life isn't a game, but if it were, students at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette will soon have a chance to design it the way they want.

Next spring, the computer science department will offer a concentration in video game design as part of the department's curriculum.

And the Video Game Alliance on campus couldn't be happier. The group of about 20 members formed about a year and a half ago to share their interest in design.

The group lobbied for the design course and found little opposition from Magdy Bayoumi, department head and director of ULL's Center for Advanced Computer Studies, said Joel Gonzales, club founder and computer science grad student.

"We have a vice president of academic advancement and that person's job is to work with faculty on campus toward designing the implementation of video game curriculum," Gonzales said.

The group didn't wait around for the university to offer a design course. They've already created a game to submit to an international competition. They're now redesigning it for next year's competition.

"Usually since we're creating games, we don't have time to play them," Gonzales said.

The group came along at the right time, Bayoumi said.

He said he had knocked around the idea since he became department head in 2000 and continuously met high school students interested in ULL's program whose idea of computer science was video games.

"Some faculty saw it as a negative thing because that's not what computer science is about," he said.

But Bayoumi said he sees the benefit in offering the design course because of the opportunity in the computer game industry.

Associate computer science professor, Jim Etheredge will teach the design course and said the offering won't stray from the fundamental focus of the department.

"We want our people to be computer scientists first," Etheredge said. "We don't want them to get a one-dimensional view of what computer science is about."

Etheredge said the students aren't the only ones hyped about the design class. "It's exciting for me," Etheredge said. "It's one of those topics that's inherently interesting. It's visual and you can see the results ... There's just something about coding a game and running it."

The concentration in video game design includes visual arts and even theater electives. The university's visual arts program also offers a program in animation.

Eventually, the department plans to build upon the course with more design courses offered in the department, Bayoumi said.

"Eventually the team will be of computer science and visual arts faculty," Bayoumi said.

"Imagine a team of nerds and crazy people," he laughed.

Students must also take prerequisites in computer science and math before enrolling in the first design course.

Source: Advocate; Baton Rouge, La.

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