He asked me about my game design class, so I tried to tell him.
“Well, in the last class we talked about core gameplay, and about systems and content ...”
“You mean like the engine?”
“... No... this is just a design class.”
“...”
“Here, those two guys over there are instructors.”
It was the third open house for Austin Community College's video game development program. I'd been to the other two, but this was the first time I attended as a student. For this I got to wear a name badge with a blue outline on it, so people would know they could ask me questions. It'd be nice to think I did my best, but this was 10 a.m. on a Saturday morning. It wasn't my best.
ACC's program began through the efforts of Bob McGoldrick, coordinator for the college's High Technology Institute, which includes technical certifications useful for IT jobs in hardware and software management. Retired from IBM and now a workforce development specialist, McGoldrick readily admits, as he did during open house, that he is not a gamer. Rather, his interest in game development came from realizing how important it was to Austin, as a subset of the city's technology sector as well as creative arts. After talking to several developers, studio heads, and academics, some of whom make up his advisory board and instructor base, the next step was creating a curriculum, separating the disciplines, and designing the program to encourage specialization in art, programming, design or production – but also to encourage cross-training for a more well-rounded experience – all with the help of pro developers with first-hand knowledge of the business.
“I had no preconceived notions about what we should do,” he told the 60 or so would-be students, several with family members in tow (most appeared to be parents with a few spouses), gathered at the open house. “What you see here is what the industry needs – at least the industry here in Austin.”
Bob McGoldrick, coordinator of Austin Community College's Video Game Development program, greets visitors to the third annual open house.
