Simulation and Game Development has several series of videos showing off what is going on in the IT department, student videos in SGD, and anything related to the gaming industry. Come check us out!
Latest videos are with Christopher Totten:
Part 1 video here
Designing Better Levels Through Human Survival Instincts
The experience of users in a space is something that architects have understood for centuries but which has been lost with the Postmodern focus on building forms. In a work that evolved from his Architecture Masters thesis, game design professor Christopher Totten set out to understand how buildings and games make better user experiences. What he learned was how to make better levels. Through case studies and building analysis, this presentation shows how video game environments can learn from architecture in ways that begin with human survival instincts. Shelter, shadow, shade, and vertigo are all explored to discover how levels can be both thrilling and fun.
Christopher Totten:
Chris Totten is a Washington, DC-based professor of game design and 3D animation. He has also participated in several independent game projects as an artist, animator, and project manager. Chris has written articles featured on both Gamasutra and Video Game Writers. He is currently writing a textbook called Game Character Creation in Blender and Unity, which will be released by Wiley Publishing in the summer of 2012. He has a Masters Degree in Architecture with a concentration in digital media from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. Chris wants to help shape a new generation of game designers who look deeper into their designs. He works with students and other designers to challenge gaming conventions through cross-disciplinary research.
