The business of game development in the United States has recently passed $13 billion dollars in annual sales, almost twice the annual sales of motion pictures. The game industry is fast growing with opportunities for a wide variety of jobs. A number of "hot spots" for game development exist throughout the country. The greater Boston area is one of these spots with several major studios.

Creating computer programs using animated graphics is a challenging and fascinating process. It is very exciting to see others play the games you created!

The Animation and Graphic Game Programming (AGGP) curriculum focuses on programming and the technical computer aspects of game development. Successful game development programmers possess a high level of skill and expertise in programming, math, and physics to make the artistic come to life. An introduction to tools and skills for game development and game production will be provided to support team projects. This introduction to common tools and skills will include those used by artists and designers.

This program prepares students for:

• entry level computer programming jobs in the entertainment business or a wide range of industries such as medical, forensics, architectural, training development, advertising or any industry incorporating animation and graphics to improve communication; and/or
• the opportunity for advanced education in the field of animation and graphics via degree granting schools or specialized schools focused on the entertainment fields.

The AGGP program focuses on C\C++, the main programming language used to develop games. Students will learn strong C++ programming skills including data structures with pointers, Windows application programming, and Microsoft's DirectX programming. Other important programming and scripting languages used to in development and production of games. This will include Adobe Flash Actionscript, Microsoft C#, Sun Java, and Epic's Unreal Script.

The students will be introduced to game development with Adobe Flash and Actionscript. An example of what is possible for students to create in the first course of the AGGP curriculum is available at the following link: http://www.metrocast.net/~mtibbals/.

Math and physics play a key role in game development and are incorporated in all related courses. Students are required to take a specific course blending math, physics, and game programming. Having a course devoted to this topic is relatively unique in game development curriculums at the community college and bachelor levels.

Students will have an introduction to 2-D and 3-D programming using Microsoft's XNA Game Studio. XNA Game Studio is a software framework for game development built on top of Microsoft .NET technology. Using XNA, students will learn cross platform programming among Windows PCs, Xbox 360s, and Windows 7 Phone devices. Students programming with XNA who do exceptional and polished work will find an opportunity to submit their work for sale on Xbox Live Indie Games Marketplace and the Window 7 Phone Application Marketplace.

The students will learn to utilize Epic's Unreal Engine, the leading state of the art 3-D engine used in a large portion of the industry. The Unreal Engine and games using the engine have has won numerous prestigious industry awards, including several "Game of the Year" awards. Students will learn to create custom content and maps using 3ds Max and the Unreal Engine tools. Students are required to take a second course on 3-D application design using the Unreal Engine and Unreal Script, a C++ and Java like language created to script the Unreal Engine. Students will be provided an opportunity to use the Unreal Engine for their capstone team project.

In the past few years, game development has exploded in the areas of web based multi-player games and hand held devices. These changes have been fueled by advancements in new technology and lower barrier of entry including a significantly smaller team sizes. The massive adoption of social networks such as Facebook and the increasing use of new smart phones and other hand held devices with health application creation support have provided new ways to serve content to users. Students will be introduced to these emerging technologies and work with leading platforms associated with Apple's iPhone, Google's Android, and the Microsoft Windows 7 Phone. As with XNA Game Studio described above, students who do exceptional and polished work with these technologies will find an opportunity to submit their work for sale in application marketplaces.