Unity engine boot camp
Students and developers gather in North Texas.
Dallas, Texas – (Feb. 16, 2010) – The Guildhall at Southern Methodist University brought together members of its faculty, post-graduates, students and the regional video game community recently for a two-day Unity engine boot camp led by Unity instructors.
“At SMU, our graduate students are immersed in a setting that closely mirrors the video game industry, in pace and in technology,” Dr. Peter Raad, executive director and founder of The Guildhall at SMU, explained. “The relatively new Unity engine has been on our faculty’s radar, so we contacted the organization to see if they could help us better understand the applications of their game development tool.”
“If we have an opportunity to facilitate learning experiences for our faculty, post-grads and students as well as area game professionals, we’ll do it.” Raad added. “Opening up educational seminars to the game industry is a natural, given our charter to work with, and for, the game industry and to help produce the future professionals and leaders it demands.
Mike McCoy, 15-year industry veteran with seven published titles under his belt, teaches level design full-time and was one of the SMU professors attending the boot camp.
“We use a wide variety of game engines in our program. I have found Unity to be designer and artist- friendly while at the same time it enables programmers to explore some interesting elements that can heighten the gameplay experience.”
McCoy said other engines that have been used at the SMU program include Half-Life 2, Fall Out 3, Torque X Builder, Gears of War, Unreal 3, and UDK.
Participants at the seminars besides SMU faculty, post graduates and students included LifeLine Studios, Synaptic Gaming & Simulation, SpiderMonk Entertainment and Halliburton.
About The Guildhall at SMU
The Guildhall at Southern Methodist University is the premier graduate video game education program in the U.S. Many of the school’s founders are industry icons, and classes are taught by industry veterans. In six years, the program has graduated over 330 students, and alums have worked at more than 80 video game studios around the world, with several graduates now serving in leadership positions. SMU offers both a Master’s degree and a graduate Professional Certificate of Interactive Technology in Digital Game Development, with specializations in art creation, level design, and software development. For more information, please visit www.smu.edu.
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CONTACT
Ron Jenkins
The Guildhall at SMU
972.473.3546
jenkinsr@smu.edu