Design I and III
Lecturer: Mathias Fuchs, School of Art & Design
Theoretical Lecture and Hands-on Workshop

Tuesday, 10:00 a.m. – 1 p.m. (Design III)
Thursday, 11:00 a.m. – 2 p.m. (Design I)

Level: 1st year and 2nd year students
Required Skills: Basic knowledge of the Windows operating system is required, some experience with Photoshop or PaintShop Pro and a sound editor (SoundForge, Wavelab or CoolEdit) is helpfull. Expertise in a 3D modelling software like Studio Max, Maya or Lightwave is not mandatory, it could increase the quality of the work delivered though.

Tutorials (Click on the link to the left to browse the module content for each teaching unit)

Assessment: Each student should be able to build a considerably complex map using UnrealEd (version 2 or 3). The map should contain textures and sounds which are not only taken from the packages delivered with UnrealTournament, but should rather be the sounds and images generated by the student. The map should consist of at least 5 rooms and the sequence of the rooms the players walk through should contain either
-an element of narrative or
-a formal or aesthetic development.

What is a narrative? In this case it could be a short story about a place, a person, a historic event, a political situation or about yourself.

What is a formal development? This is a sequence of sounds and images which feel consistent in respect to the progression of an aesthetic or formal idea. This sequence could lead from narrow and claustrophobic to wide and free, e.g.
It could also be a sequence leading from high to low, from hot to cool, from square to hip, from conservative to progressive etc. Please don't stick to the examples, use your imagination and your own ideas.

The participant of the module is supposed to deliver a brief statement in written form explaining her or his idea for the map she or he designed.

Module Brief (Design I), Module Brief (Design III)

Hand-in-Date: Wednesday, February 5th, 11 pm cvg2 classroom (Design III)
Thursday, February 6th, 11 pm cvg1 classroom (Design I)

 
Fig.: Virtual Knowledgespace by fuchs-eckermann

The course consists of three sections.
       i)  I will present two computer games, which have been developed by myself during the last two years. These games built with the UNREAL Editor are an example of artistic approaches towards game design.
            ii) A series of lectures describes the concept and the basic features of the Unreal Editor.
           iii) A hands-on workshop will demonstrate how to design and build a computergame.

There will be a discussion about the possibilities of using game technology for design purposes and considerations about existing as well as desired extensions of the available hardware and software. This course looks at the fiield of game design from the alternative viewpoints of visual artists, 3D modellers, sound designers, text authors and architects - it will however make evident that game design is a field where different disciplinary competences need to merge. At the present stage designers, architects, musicians, poets and visual artists find a forum in the game development environment for collaborative work and exchange. The game industry is one of the fastest growing businesses in the U.K., Japan and the USA and will have an enormous impact of how entertainment, education and research will look like in the near future. A lot of artists will probably find their jobs in the game industry. The module will prepare the students to be confident to cope with the technical challenges in designing a game and to be critically aware of the clichees the commercial sector is bound to follow. The students will be encouraged to use their creative power and inventiveness to escape commonplace and run-down-the mill solutions and find their own artistic way to express their intentions