Making a List

Remember Nick and Anthony, A.K.A. Frick and Frack? They teamed up remotely with instructor Mike M. as part of Game-U’s Accelerate program. Nick and Anthony set their sights on commercial game development and are building a secret project to that end.

Game development pulls together a range of skills – like 3D modeling, graphic design, coding, and animation – so for their most recent class, the guys spent some time on modeling as well as coding. Anthony revealed another vital component of the secret game he and Nick have in the works: a couch that he modeled himself. Remember Ryan’s game with a throne, and the work he did in 3DS Max? Anthony used a similar technique to “unwrap” his three-dimensional couch into its two-dimensional surfaces, which he can more easily texture. Since the couch is such an important part of the game, Anthony’s determined to perfect it. Looks like he’s well on his way to doing so!

Coding can be tough. When breaking down a complex process into a logical, step-by-step program of instructions that can be interpreted by a computer and handle any errors or complications that come its way, everyone runs into problems. (Technical term: bugs.) Not every part of game development requires coding, but since coding is the foundation of game design, Mike M. came up with a way for Nick and Anthony to strengthen their skills without getting overwhelmed. Ever paint Easter eggs? Yes? Okay, ever paint digital Easter eggs? Check out the coding lesson Mike M. created! It’s simple but powerful, and it uses digital Easter eggs. Nick and Anthony used code to “paint” a smiley face on a white oval. The beauty of the lesson is its visual result. Students like Nick and Anthony can easily see how changes in the code affect the program! That feedback makes it much simpler to understand the principles behind the code.

Frick, Frack, thanks for keeping in touch! We’re keeping track of the clues you gave us about your game – Antarctica, Mario, the beach, rolling balls with faces, and now…a couch. The list keeps getting more strange! Dudes, don’t keep us in suspense for too long.