8 Highest-Ranked Colleges for Game Design

Posted: June 25, 2010 in articles
Tags: ,
0

The Princeton Review surveyed 50 collegiate game design programs in order to handpick the best schools you should attend if you’re interested in going into game development. In this guide to the top eight schools, we break down everything from the cost of tuition to notable game designers who have come from these schools.

Time was to be a game designer, all you needed was a computer and a basement or garage owned by your mother. The only education you needed to be a truly great game designer was a stack of Atari 2600 games and maybe a few issues of Popular Science magazine. Those days are done.

If you want to be a game designer in the maturing market we have today, you need a lot more than your mom’s basement and some magazines. You need imagination, determination, and preferably a job with a major game publisher or an indie game developer. And before you can have any of those things, you just might need a formal education.

The Princeton Review serves as America’s standard for college preparation and admissions advice. Since 1981, it has been ranking colleges by programs, features, and financial aid packages as well as publishing guidebooks to college admissions. This year, they’ve surveyed 50 different game design studies programs in the U.S. and Canada and have come up with the best of the best for a degree in video games.

The eight schools on this list were selected by The Princeton Review as the top programs. Some offer only minor degrees or concentrations and some are undergraduate major programs. Some of them have been around since those early Atari days and a few of them only just started game design programs in the last few years. Go to any one of them, though, and you’ll be getting some of the best education out there for video game design.

8 Highest-Ranked Colleges for Game Design

Location: Los Angeles, CA
Degrees offered: Major/Minor
Number of students enrolled: 16,283
Student/Faculty ratio: 9:1
Annual tuition: $38,570
The Interactive Media Division of USC has graduated some pretty big names in the indie gaming scene. Jenova Chen of thatgamecompany (flOw), Matt Korba and Paul Bellazza of The Odd Gentleman (The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom), and Justin Hall of GameLayers (Passively Multiplayer Online Game) all came up through Division and all almost immediately made games or have game studios of their own.

8 Highest-Ranked Colleges for Game Design

Location: Redmond, WA
Degrees offered: Major/Minor/Conc.
Number of students enrolled: 883
Student/Faculty ratio: 12:1
Annual tuition: $476 per credit
Founded in 1998, DigiPen is one of the oldest game design programs in the country. Recent graduate Kim Swift (class of 2005) went on to develop the award-winning game, Portal at Valve Corporation before joining Airtight Games as project lead in December 2009. Google “most influential women in the games industry,” and you’re sure to find her name on at least half a dozen lists from various publications.

8 Highest-Ranked Colleges for Game Design

Location: Philadelphia, PA
Degrees offered: Major/Minor/Conc.
Number of students enrolled: 13,139
Student/Faculty ratio: 9:1
Annual tuition: $29,800
Graduates from Drexel wind up in a variety of jobs across the games industry. You can find RePlay alumni in everything from animation to community management. Even before the gaming program was formalized, Drexel graduated two people who became big names in the games industry: Tom Fulp is known for creating both the game Alien Hominid and the Flash portal/gaming hotspot, Newgrounds.com; and Jack Wall composed award-winning music for Myst III: Exile and Myst IV: Revelation.

8 Highest-Ranked Colleges for Game Design

Location: Worcester, MA
Degrees offered: Major/Concentration
Number of students enrolled: 103
Student/Faculty ratio: 39:1
Annual tuition: $23,725
Becker College is famous for its graduates outside the gaming community-people like Eli Whitney, the inventor of the cotton gin-but they hope to add gaming industry people to their lineup after graduating their very first class in the Game Design and Game Programming departments just last year. Already, some of their students are finding employment in the industry with studios like Blue Fang Games, which develops the award-winning Zoo Tycoon game series.

8 Highest-Ranked Colleges for Game Design

Location: Troy, NY
Degrees offered: Major/Minor/Conc.
Number of students enrolled: 5367
Student/Faculty ratio: 14:1
Annual tuition: $38,100
Rensselaer’s graduate pool includes a lot of chief executive officers: Kathrik Bala is founder and CEO of Vicarious Visions, which developed several Guitar Hero Wii games among other well-known projects. His fellow RPI alumna Tobi Sauliner worked at Vicarious Visions for five years before going off to found and become CEO of 1st Playable Productions-which handles Cartoon Network’s Ben 10 and Secret Saturdays games for the Nintendo DS. More recent graduate Mike DelPrete is founder and CEO of Agora Games, an online game technology and community-building resource for many prominent games such as Guitar Hero and Call of Duty: World at War.

8 Highest-Ranked Colleges for Game Design

Location: Vancouver, BC (Canada)
Degrees offered: Concentration
Number of students enrolled: 1530
Student/Faculty ratio: N/A
Annual tuition (GAD): $25,352 (international); $22,835 (domestic)
Annual tuition (VPG): $25,352 (international); $22,835 (domestic)
Though it is an art school, the GAD and VPG programs produce graduates in all kinds of video games industry jobs besides art design and animation. There are alumni in product development, production, game design, level design, and even a film instructor across a number of well known game development studios and film programs.

8 Highest-Ranked Colleges for Game Design

Location: Worcester, MA
Degrees offered: Major
Number of students enrolled: 3160
Student/Faculty ratio: 14:1
Annual tuition: $36,890
Pretty much right across the street from Becker College, WPI has a friendly rivalry going for it in the college town of Worcester. Becker College, however, is more of a liberal arts-based school while WPI has a technical emphasis-so it never gets too fierce. Some of its prominent alumni include Chris Dyl, chief technology officer at Turbine; Ichiro Lambe, principle designer at Dejobaan Games (whose most recent game, AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!!-A Reckless Disregard for Gravity, is nominated for an Independent Games Festival Award); and Mike Gesner, lead designer on Second Life.

8 Highest-Ranked Colleges for Game Design

Location: Cambridge, MA
Degrees offered: None (see below)
Number of students enrolled: 4138
Student/Faculty ratio: 7:1
Annual tuition: $37,510
MIT doesn’t offer a game-specific degree; it only has degrees in disciplines like computer science and media studies. Through these programs, however, students can access the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab to work with other schools in collaboration to create games. The other unique thing about MIT’s program is they teach students not to crunch by restricting their work on a full-time project to eight hours a day.

Interview with Game Design Expert Katie Salen

Posted: June 24, 2010 in articles
0

What is the best thing about games and gaming today?
Also what’s worse about them?
As an avid gamer, the best thing for me is the fact that more and more people are playing games…they are becoming part of an everyday lifestyle, rather than a geeky thing that only weird programmer guys do. I am also really excited by the ways games are giving players a chance to be creative, through character and level editing tools, which break down the line between game designer and player. Games are becoming living and breathing systems that players have a large hand in producing and changing…I find this extremely cool.

The worst thing is simply the cost of games. They are expensive to buy (for a lot people, including me!) and even more expensive to make. Developers won’t risk experimentation when the costs are so huge. The result has been a dearth of games that we might call truly innovative.

Usually Art and Design are referred to in the same breath, but in terms of Gaming, Game Design and Game Art are two separate subjects. Could you help elaborate on that?
Game Design refers to the design of actual game play, developing the system of play that gamers will inhabit. Game Art refers to the visual assets that make up the character, world, and interface design of a game. This art is produced by illustrators, graphic designers, artists, and animators.

Right through Gaming history, which are the classic examples of great game design?
Well, I think everyone will have a different opinion, as there are a lot of ways of determining what constitutes a “great game.” But for me, I would list paper-based, social games, and digital games alongside each other in a list that would include: Texas Hold ‘Em Poker, Rock-Paper-Scissors, Mafia, Scrabble, Settlers of Catan, Tetris, Adventure, Katamari Damacy, Legend of Zelda, Defender, Warcraft/Starcraft/WoW, Rez, Antigrav, Unreal Tournament, and Advance Wars. I could just keep going actually, as there have been so many truly awesome games made.

Some comments on recent trends in Gaming? What’s looking exciting nowadays?
The handheld market is looking particularly interesting to me these days, as I think platforms like the Nintendo DS are starting to innovate in the area of unique and compelling game mechanics, as well as exploit the power of multiplayer networked play. The forthcoming game from EA, Spore, will probably blow everyone’s mind, as Wil Wright is changing the paradigm for game development based on the concept of procedural programming, In making Spore, Wright sidestepped the current paradigm of massive teams of content creators in favor of a system of building games from the ground up. Players produce and exchange content that is dynamically integrated back into the game, leading to greater and greater forms of emergent complexity. The model is not only sustainable-the system will generate content as long as players do-but economical too. Smart!

Please tell us a few things about keeping simplicity in the game design yet creating complex game-play?
I don’t think the game design has to always be simple per se, but in designing games you want to figure out how the fewest possible rules can lead to a space of play filled with emergent possibility. We are finding that even the simplest game mechanics can lead to extremely rich game play if those mechanics give players complex, meaningful, and strategic choices. The trick is to balance restricting and stylizing player interaction through rules, and giving them the space to play.

Are Game Designers pushing technology to come up with better game-play or is it the other way round? Also your comments on role of technology?
I just wrote an article on this for Adobe and what I discovered in interviewing a lot of different game designers was that the design-technology equation must be approached in a lot of different ways. For some designers, technology creates a particular social or interactive context that they can respond to, as in the case of mobile technologies and alternate reality games like I Love Bees, or Uncle Roy All Around You. For others, technology is something to be exploited, invented, or simply modified. The history of the first person shooter is the story of programmer John Carmack inventing new technologies for games id software wanted to make. So technology always creates a context for game design. Understanding the limits and possibilities of the medium are ways that designers exploit any particular technology’s strength or weakness.

Could you share some of your experiences while writing ‘Rules of Play’? How did the idea to do such pioneering work come about and how has it been?
The book was a true collaboration between Eric Zimmerman and myself and was quite important in helping us both to explore ideas we had been working with for some time in teaching game design and making games. It was tough to write, as we wanted to try and write in a way that was approachable, but at the same time begin to establish a theoretical framework for thinking about the design of games. We have gotten a lot of good feedback on the book, and just put together an accompanying anthology called The Game Design Reader: A Rules of Play Anthology (MIT Press), which contains a lot of really excellent essays by writers, designers, researchers, and players. So those were two big projects we are proud of.

Future Plans?
Right now I am focused on a couple of experimental game design projects-one is a game for the cities of Amsterdam and Utrecht in the tradition of the Big Urban Game, which I designed with Frank Lantz and Nick Fortugno back in 2003. I am also working on a game that uses wireless surveillance cameras mounted on large red balloons in the tradition of an RPG, but played in the city streets, and am doing a fair amount of design consulting on some more commercial games. On the research front, I have been deeply interested in understanding the game prototyping process better, and hope to write a book focused on this subject in the next couple of years…right now I am studying a lot of game design companies to better understand how they prototype and model games. It is really fascinating.

Your comments on X Media Lab as you have mentored twice?
I am a big fan of Xmedia Lab, partially because I value teaching and education so much-it is one of the few places in the world where professional designers and content developers can come together and exchange expertise in an open and collaborative environment. I love being able to travel to different countries to see what people are up to and how innovation develops differently in diverse cultural contexts. Plus it is a great chance for me to listen and test out ideas of my own among a group of super-talented peers…I would go back again in a heartbeat.

Game Development FAQ’s, Books and Resources

Posted: June 24, 2010 in articles
0

OpenGL

The Red Book: http://fly.cc.fer.hr/~unreal/theredbook/

Now to actually compile the tutorials, you’ll need the OpenGL SDK. On Windows, this is actually pretty easy, because modern versions of OpenGL come with the OpenGL runtime, and compilers come with the SDK. So on Windows, it’s just a matter of figuring out how to configure your environment:
http://www.zeuscmd.com/tutorials/ope…nvironment.php

On Mac OS X, you’ll need to either install the Developer’s Tools that came on a CD with your Mac, or download it. Note that if you want to download it, you’ll need to create a (free) Apple Developer’s Account before you can download it:

Once you’ve got this, you still need to configure it. You can either check out my modified NeHe tutorial, or use http://www.OneSadCookie.com/tutorials.

On Linux, the OpenGL SDK is included with the major distributions (Debian, Ubuntu, RedHat, SuSE, Caldera). However, if you do not have it, you should download the open source implementation of OpenGL, Mesa. You may also want to download FreeGLUT. The last part of this web page will help you in compiling GL apps in Linux:
http://www.zeuscmd.com/tutorials/ope…nvironment.php

DirectX

To start off with DirectX programming, you’ll need to download the DirectX SDK. Sorry, Windows-only. Then you’ll need to configure your compiler. It’s easiest to create DirectX applications with Visual Studio, so if you don’t have that, I recommend downloading Visual Studio Express Edition. Here’s a configuration guide for DirectX using Visual Studio:
http://cs.gmu.edu/~jchen/graphics/bookx/Notes/IntroDirectX.doc

It will be a lot harder using a compiler like Dev-C++ for DirectX development, although it’s still possible (note that guide is a little outdated):
http://nexe.gamedev.net/directKnowle…Using%20DevCpp

Useful Game Design Resources

Posted: June 20, 2010 in articles
0

Here are some VERY useful links on game design. I got the list from here. You should visit that web site too – they have more stuff like articles on production and productivity, and even the actual design documents from games like Doom.
In brackets after the article name is the source… please note that you have to register with GamaSutra (free and instant) before you can read their articles. It’s worth it though.

Want to make your own mod? These links will help you get started!

Posted: June 20, 2010 in articles
0

Introduction
Whether you are coding, making models, maps, animations etc a variety of tools are available to help you out. The following provides an introduction to such tools and points you in the direction of where they may be found. If you are new to mods, we suggest you read our getting started page. If you are looking for help making mods we encourage you read on and check out our tutorial listing. If you have a mod you have made or know of one we are missing – please contact us or add it to our mod listing.
What You Need
In order to start off with your mod project, there is always one tool a modder needs to have, and that happens to be the…

    Software Development KitA “Software Development Kit” (or SDK for short) contains a set of development tools to help you create that mod you’ve always been dreaming of. This also usually contains the mapping tools required to edit the levels that you play in. This is what you need in order to modify the source code of the game itself in order to get your weapons/models/coding/etc. working. At the moment, several of the more popular SDK’s have been made available to download. Here’s a list of some of those games:Half-LifeQuake and Quake III ArenaUnreal TournamentFar CryPreyBattlefield 2Elder Scrolls IV: OblivionDoom 3Command & Conquer: GeneralsReturn to Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy TerritoryThere are plenty of games which require you to purchase the game in order to use their respective SDK. These include Half-Life 2, Unreal Tournament 2004, and Homeworld.Quake and Quake III Arena remain popular today, simply for the fact that they have recently been made open-source. This means that, unlike typical mods, you can make your creations into commercial products that can be sold at a fee for people to play. Those that aren’t open-source are illegal to sell for a profit.

3D Modeling Programs
This is one of the most important tools you need when you are creating a mod. 3D Modeling programs help you create your characters, weapons, props; what have you. Here are a few of the most popular modeling programs that can be exchanged for some cold hard cash (or plastic, if you buy them online).

    3DS Max – Usa.autodesk.comUsed by most industry professionals, 3DS MAX is a powerful tool for any of your modelling, animating, and rendering needs. Maya 3D – Alias.comAnother powerful program used by industry professionals, and is rated by even most modders to be equally, if not more powerful than 3ds Max. Of course, the same can be said about either, and it just determines on which program comes more natural to you. Both programs are highly recommended. MilkShape 3D Editing Software – Swissquake.chThis software is used to edit the characters in the games Half-Life, Quake I, II, and III, and Unreal Tournament.There are also free modelling programs available online. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re bad, but they just don’t contain as much features as the paid one, or they have some crits among them, or just aren’t as powerful.Turbo Squid GMAX – Turbosquid.comThe free version of 3dsmax that is missing much of the fully-paid’s features, but is one of the more-preferred modelling programs. This version of Gmax, Turbo Squid, is specifically tiered towards modifying game content.Maya PLE- Usa.autodesk.comAnother great free software from Maya. The only crit is that it pastes “Maya PLE” over the background of your model.Blender 3d – Blender3d.com Softimage|XSI Mod Tool – Softimage.comSoftimage|XSI Mod Tool gives modders deep options for crafting content for their games (it can even be used for standalone products).

Animation Programs
One of the critical parts of modding when it comes down to it. Animation lets you come up with new ways to die, reload, jump, crouch, etc. This is especially important in a 3rd person game, where you don’t look like a log using an FPS integrated switch to third person, where it’s just a straight body with a twisting head, and feels very clunky. Here are some programs that might interest you in animation:

    Autodesk Motionbuilder- Usa.autodesk.comA very intuitive and complex animation program that is used by many industry professionals, especially for FMV sequences, MOTIONBUILDER is the best real-time 3D character animation solution on the marke. You can also check the site for Mocap and plugins for video. Lightwave – Newtek.comAn affordable and easy-to-learn program that is only held back by having less power to animate than Kaydara does. But, for those who are looking for having an easier time to animate, or who are trying to learn how to, this is a pretty good program to try out.Most modelling programs also contain their own built-in animator, so if you don’t like either of these programs, you can kill two birds with one stone by checking out the programs listed under Modeling Programs.

2D Art & Texture
Looking to fill in those black and white pictures your concept artists have given you? Give it a more visually appealing look that is easier for the modellers to use by trying out these two programs, which happen to be the most popular of the bunch:

    Photoshop – Adobe.comThe industry-standard used by all the pros. A very powerful program used by Web designers, photographers, and video editors. Paint Shop Pro – Corel.comA professional and easy to use program that lets you create professional digital creations. It’s also a lot cheaper than Photoshop’s software, by about $550, so if you don’t want to break the budget, I definitely recommend getting this.

Modeling / Skinning Resources
Don’t feel like you have the creativity to come up with your own modelling and skinning, or are having a really tough time find a modeller and skinner? Try out these two sites, which give you both for free!

    AddonDB – Moddb.comThe brand new network site from the creators of ModDB, AddonDB is your one-stop shop for all of the addons you could ever think of. From character models, weapon models, and maps, to sounds, skins, and tools, this site is the only resource you’re ever going to need. FPSBanana – Fpsbanana.comPerhaps the biggest customization site solely dedicated to FPS games on the Internet today, FPSBanana provides a wide assortment of tweaks and tools to help you in your endeavor to make your mod.

Mapping
Although mapping tools are generally not released to the public and can only be used after purchasing the game itself (such as Unreal Tournament 2004′s “UnrealED”), here are a number of programs that can help you in your level design ambitions.

    Valve Hammer Editor 3.4 – Collective.valve-erc.comThe map editor that Valve supplies with Half-Life 1, it’s the most used and should be the only used for Half-Life. GTK Radiant – Qeradiant.comOne of the most popular and most-used mapping tools is GTKRadiant, which is a descendant from the older Q3Radiant. This free-to-download program can be used to mod for several different games, which include Doom 3, Medal of Honor, Call of Duty, Half-Life, and of course, the Quake series.

Map Compilers
You can usually use Hammer or Radiant for your compiling needs, but if you’re frustrated with it, and want an easier and better way to open a map, here are a few other recommended compilers:

    Zoner’s Half-Life Tools – Collective.valve-erc.comA friendly and intuitive compiling software that is a lot better than Hammer’s own. Definitely worth the download if you don’t want to worry about crashing or face errors or anything like that. MapFile Backup Compiler – Collective.valve-erc.comA long running request by the community was that automatic map backups be supported. Although not time based, this is the next best thing as it will create a backup of your map files each time you compile. This tool is highly recommended. Q3Map2 – Shaderlab.comThis is a popular command-line-utility BSP compiler for games based on the Quake III Arena engine. These include (the obvious) Quake III Arena, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Enemy Territory, the Star Wars: Jedi Knight franchise, and Nexuiz. This program was known to be a replacement for map compilers such as QERadiant and GtkRadiant.3D World Studio – Leadwerks.comA map/level editor that can be used with the Torque Game Engine (a popular standalone engine), DarkBasic Pro, and Blitz3D.

C++ Compilers
The SDK requires a C++ computer language compiler to convert your creation into a file that can be executed by the video game. Officially, the SDK supports Microsoft’s Visual C++, but there are alternatives.

    Microsoft Visual C++ – Msdn.microsoft.comBorland C++ Builder – Borland.comMinGW C++ Compiler (free) – Mingw.orgIn order to use this, it is also recommended to download the Code::Blocks IDE (Integrated Development Environment) and Dev-C++ IDE. It will make it a lot easier for those new to compiling with MingW, and also for the simple fact that the program doesn’t come bundled with an IDE like the other two.

Advertisement / Recruiting
Need help for your mod or just wanted to spread the word? Here are some pretty good sites that are frequented by a lot of gamers and modders. You can usually try the forums themselves, and get feedback or help. Of course, it’s always recommended to try Moddb first for help requests and advertisement. If you aren’t getting heard, here are some interesting sites I visit myself:

    Planet Sites – Gamespy.comYou can basically find a site for any game that can be modded through this network. Join their forums and start pimping your mod, or try to get hosted by one of the most popular sites on the Internet and gain coverage from the widely-read GameSpy front page and newsletter. FileFront Network – Filefront.comMuch like the GameSpy network, FileFront hosts a number of sites solely dedicated a single game, so you can browse through there and even get your files hosted on their site for fantastic exposure. On the main page, just click one of the games under “Browse Popular Games”, then visit their community page.MODSonline.com – Modsonline.comA huge site dedicated solely to mods, much like ModDB itself, but on a smaller scale.

Additional Help
Still having a trivial time trying to figure out what you’re supposed to do in a certain situation? Here’s a batch of sites that can be really useful when the going gets tough in your modding endeavors. You can also use the sites under Advertisement / Recruiting for backup.

    ModDB Tutorial Database – Moddb.comContaining an extensive amount of tutorials covering almost every facet of modding development, the ModDB Tutorial Database is a highly recommended area to begin your search for additional help. And please, if you happen to benefit from these documents, give back to the community by submitting your own to help keep that section of the site growing. 3dBuzz – 3dbuzz.comOne of the best resources available on the Internet, this site is jam-packed with plenty of tutorials. One of the best hallmarks is that it also provides video tutorials to help you with everything from modeling and mapping to lighting and texturing. Also, for a small fee, you can participate in online-only classrooms where instructors teach you the different fundamentals of modeling programs. This is definitely one site you want to keep in your bookmarks.Frequently Asked Questions about Mod Programming – Planethalflife.comThis is a good place for beginners to get started creating Half-Life specific mods. This FAQ covers all the basics. Wavelength: Your Editing Resource – Thewavelength.netWavelength has information on coding, creating models, and even embedding your own sounds within a mod. Not only does the site have a variety of helpful tutorials, it also includes a forum where mod makers can exchange ideas and tips. Wikipedia – En.wikipedia.orgWhere can you find all of your information anywhere else except on Wikipedia? This great site is busting at the seams with content dedicated to helping you with any modding question you may have. It even contains pages detailing the programs I have mentioned above, in case you weren’t aware of them in the first place.Interlopers.net – Interlopers.netA site containing a helpful community and plenty of tutorials to sift through, Interlopers is a great site if you’re looking for some help on your mod. It’s also a good place to advertise your mod to the community and gain some much-needed support.Valve Editing Resource Center (VERC) – Collective.valve-erc.comFormerly the Half-Life ERC, the Valve ERC has grown to encompass all of Valve’s products. The site contains user forums, tutorials, and lots of technical details for advanced mod creators. Valve Developer Wiki – Developer.valvesoftware.comThis is Valve’s official developer resource for Source-based developing, It includes the old Source SDK docs and a continually growing amount of user-added developing resources.This is THE place to look when developing on Source.

Game Creation Resource

Posted: June 20, 2010 in articles
0

All software is free unless trial or so is after it:
Tag explanation:
Recommended
The item is the best in its category in general opinion
ModDB
Item is made/maintained by someone from the ModDB community and you should just give it a look to give its support :)
Last Update: 09/01/2007
hosting (no ads):
G2mods.tv (mysql5-4, php5-4, cgi,svn,rubyonrails) MOD Hosting only ModDB
Freewebtown.com (php coming) (http://www.freewebtown.com/username)(has adds on addon pages)
Freewebs.com (http://www.freebwebs.com/username)
Freehostia.com (mysql,php,per) (http://username.freehostia.com)
Byethost.com (mysql+php)
Xoopiter.com (mysql, cgi, ssl, php)
Pbwiki.com (Wiki only)
Content Management Systems (CMS)
PHP-Fusion | Demo — ID: Admin,Pass:demo123)
PHPCommasy | Demo — ID: admin,pass: demo)
ReloadCMS | Demo — ID:admin,Pass:demo
E107
Xoops
Joomla
Groupware
PHP-Overlord (Demo with ID/Pass on site)(20$ purchase, no trial)
Forums
PHPBB
SMF
Phorum
Invision
XMB
Image Galleries
Coppermine
SPGM
Wikis
PMWiki
MediaWiki
Misc. CMS
EyeOS | Demo — ID: root, Pass: demo)
Mantis bug tracking software
modelling progs:
Blender3D Blender3d.org
GMAX Turbosquid.com (needs free serial)
Milkshape3D Swissquake.ch (trial, 30 days, $25 Registration Cost)
Wings3D Wings3d.com
3DS MAX www.autodesk.com/3dsmax (30 day trial avaiable – subscription form)
Maya Personal Learning Edition Usa.autodesk.com (needs free key)
Cinema 4D Maxon.net (Trial, allso bodypaint 3d(UVMapper))
Pilot 3D Pilot3d.com (Trial)
Sketchup Sketchup.com (allso a free verision called Google Sketchup: for use with google earth)
Rhino 3D Rhino3d.com (Trial)
Zbrush Pixologic.com (Trial)
MakeHuman Dedalo-3d.com
Pixels3D www.pixels3d.com (MAC ONLY!)
SharpConstruct Sharp3d.sourceforge.net
DeleD: Delgine.com (free & pay)
Unwrappers/UVMappers:
Unwrap3D Unwrap3d.com (Trial)(Export Disabled)
Lithunwrap Files.seriouszone.com
Bodypaint 3D Maxon.net (Trial)
2D Programs:
Adobe Photoshop CS2 Adobe.com (Trial)
GIMP Gimp.org
Ultimate Paint Ultimatepaint.com
Paint.Net Eecs.wsu.edu
Image Forge Cursorarts.com
Project Dogwaffle: Thebest3d.com (free & pay)
Shader Tools:
FXComposer Developer.nvidia.com (Shader Creation)
Rendermonkey Developer.nvidia.com (Shader Creation – Only for ATI Cards)
Shader Designer Typhoonlabs.com
Installers:
NSIS Nsis.sourceforge.net
WinZIP SFX Winzip.com (21 day trial,$49.95)
Install Creator(Pro) Clickteam.com (Trial, displays message after install, Standars:$59/Pro:$149)
Patchmaker Clickteam.com (trial)(displays message after patch)
Wise Install System Wise.com (Trial)
Programming Tools/IDE
Bloodshed DEV (C++) Bloodshed.net
Developers IDE Mystikdevelopment.homestead.com
MinGW Developer Studio Parinyasoft.com
Visual Studio 2005 Msdn.microsoft.com (Trial)
Mono 1.0 (C# Mono-project.com
SharpDevelop (C#) Icsharpcode.net
Cream (Editor) Cream.sourceforge.net
Torsion: Sickheadgames.com (Torque engine only)
Notepad++ (Source code editor(syntax highlighting))
Code::Blocks (C/C++ Compiler)
MS Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition
Webdesign
Kompozer
Audio Tools
Audacity audacity.sourceforge.net
Goldwave www.goldwave.com (Freeware?)
Adobe Audition Adobe.com (Trial)
Sound Forge 8: Sonymediasoftware.com (trial)
Acid Pro: Sonymediasoftware.com (trial)
Acid Free
Cakewalk: Cakewalk.com (trial)
Video Tools
Sony Vegas: Sonymediasoftware.com (trial)
VirtualDub: Virtualdub.org
(Shader)SDK’s
DirectX SDK Msdn.microsoft.com
NVidia SDK Developer.nvidia.com
Radeon (ATI) SDK Ati.com
Misc Tools:
PolyTrans 3dcafestore.com) (Model file converter)
MakeHair Dedalo-3d.com (Hair Modeling)
MeLODy Developer.nvidia.com (Normal Map Generator)
DENormGen: Epsylon.rptd.dnsalias.net ModDB
Misc. ATI/AMD Dev Tools (including ATI Normalmapper)
Resource Sites
www.turbosquid.com (3D Marketplace)
www.renderosity.com (3D Tutorials)
Developer.nvidia.com (NVidia OpenGL Docs)
Mayang.com Free Textures
3dcafe.com Some free models

Developer Tools for 3D Media Applications

Posted: April 16, 2010 in articles
0
Introduction

The right set of software development tools simplifies performance enhancement in media applications and allows for continuous, cost-effective improvements.

The market for digital media applications such as entertainment and game software continues to show robust growth and profitability. Credit for this healthy increase is due in large part to the realistic simulation capabilities that 3D technologies such as DirectX* and OpenGL* have contributed. These development environments have allowed developers to create the kinds of applications that users are craving.

One important factor in creating great 3D applications is establishing high playback frame rates. Satisfying this requirement involves determining the number of frames per second that the application draws to the screen and writing the application or game code to maintain this high frame-rate level.

This process can be problematic. As is the case in finding performance bottlenecks, certain parts of application code can drop frames unexpectedly, causing performance to be uneven and 3D playback to seem choppy. These performance deficits may not be related to major coding issues, but rather to certain portions of the code base that require some tweaks or minor modifications.

Today there are a number of great development tools that can help developers track down the portions of code that cause frame-rate problems. These tools, many of which are available as shareware, can often save a great deal of time and effort for the developer. This article introduces some of these tools.

FRAPS* Benchmarking Software

FRAPS*, which stands for “Frames per Second”, was created by developer Rod Maher in 1999. It started as a simple tool to measure frame rates in 3D applications, but after four years of development, the program evolved to accomplish much more.

FRAPS can be described as benchmarking software that allows you to measure the true speed of your system in frames per second. It can display your system’s frame rate in the corner of your screen as the application runs, eliminating the need for developers to build that functionality into their applications. FRAPS also offers developers with the ability to capture screen contents as real-time high-resolution video at up to 30 frames per second.

FRAPS can save frame-rate performance data to an external text file, allowing developers to analyze or benchmark the average frame rate between any two points in time by hitting a pre-designated benchmark key.

IPEAK Tools for Analysis, Testing, and Monitoring

IPEAK GPT (Graphics Performance Toolkit), now discontinued, was a suite of tools that measured 3-D hardware accelerator performance, analyzed and recorded application workload, and analyzed the interaction of graphics hardware and software to help developers isolate weaknesses and achieve peak performance. IPEAK GPT created a database of all the application data files that access the 3D graphics system and recorded information about each frame.

This information was logged into a database, providing developers with the ability to analyze the files and determine specific performance bottlenecks within their applications. IPEAK GPT also had the ability to split the computer screen into four sections, providing different aspects of visual feedback during application runtime. These four views included a texture mode, wireframe view, overdraw, and standard preview. Unfortunately, GPT was discontinued after its initial release supporting DirectX 7.0 and OpenGL 1.2.

The DirectX* SDK’s Graphic Performance Analyzer

Microsoft announced plans to include a tool known as the Graphics Performance Analyzer (GPA) with its freely downloadable DirectX SDK*. This tool contains all the performance features of IPEAK GPT, but it has been updated to work on DirectX 9.0 or later. GPA has the ability to monitor all API usage, as well as all activities that the application has within the system on a per-frame basis, and it includes many new and practical features.

VTune™ Performance Analyzer Provides Multifaceted Optimization Support

The VTune™ Performance Analyzer can help analyze the performance of digital media applications by locating sections of code that take a long time to execute and that generate a significant number of events. Analysis of these events may provide clues about how to improve code performance. With the VTune analyzer, developers can track critical function calls and monitor specific processor events, such as cache misses, triggered by specific sections of code. They can also calculate event ratios to determine if processor events are slowing performance.

The VTune Performance Analyzer collects performance data on applications and systems, displaying it in graphs or tables. Once created, the developer can also drill down into these graphs and quickly take a closer look at which portion of the source code has the problem area. The VTune environment shows source code and/or the disassembly code of one source file in the monitored module, annotated with additional information about the code. The analyzer displays the source code for any program that has been compiled with the debug information turned on, or for which the developer specifies symbol files.

VTune tools also support the creation of custom DLLs, allowing the developer to plug the VTune analyzer into an application at specific locations and then correlate what is happening within a 3D application with what the user sees taking place on the screen.

Xylobot* is Useful in Creating Media Workloads

Xylobot* is a generic game-development tool that is compatible with most DirectX games. Xylobot can record keyboard and mouse actions, and then play back those actions within the application. This functionality is particularly useful in creating online games. Xylobot can generate a reproducibl e workload, where a series of actions are scripted. With Xylobot, the developer can produce a series of similar sequences using the scripting tool, and then profile that sequence any number of times. This functionality allows developers to make changes to their code, then compare and correlate one profiled sequence to each subsequent sequence.

Open Source Game Development

Posted: April 16, 2010 in articles
0
Introduction

A 3D game engine is a complex collection of code. Anyone entering into game development would have to spend at least a year developing a game engine or purchase a pricey game engine to utilize. Of course, another option would be to use an open source engine, but game developers have often shied away from these due to their lack of features and reliability. However, these days there are several open source engines (or low-cost commercial engines) that have a rich set of features and offer stability.

Open source engines, however, do not necessarily have the performance of their more expensive commercial counterparts as they do not always take advantage of the latest features available on the CPU and GPU. The intent of this paper is to go over a few of the most common open source game engines and show how Intel tools and technologies can bring goodness to open source game development by getting the best possible performance out of these engines.

Game Engine Block Diagram

The block diagram below is of a typical single-player 3D engine, and displays the complexity of modern game engines. It shows the various subsystems and dependence between them. The “tools” portion of the engine (level editors, geometry and animation exporters, scripted event generators, etc.) have been left out for the sake of simplicity.

Figure 1. Block Diagram of a Modern 3D Game Engine
click here for larger image

Open Source Game Engines

There are several open source engines available on the Internet, some of which are listed below. This paper will focus on both the Object-Oriented Graphics rendering 3D* engine and the Quake* 3 game engine.

The following is a short list of some of the open source game engines that are available for use:

The following is a short list of freely available 3D engines that are not open source and may charge a minimal fee for commercial use:

Game Industry Facts

Posted: April 15, 2010 in articles
0

Video games are no longer just a form of entertainment for children and young adults alone, and the old stereotypes of a gamer no longer apply.  The ESA’s “2009 Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry” show that 68 percent of American households play computer and video games. The research also reveals other interesting demographic facts about today’s gamers and the games they play, including:

  • The average gamer is 35 years old and has been playing for 12 years.
  • Forty percent of all players are women and women over 18 years of age are one of the industry’s fastest growing demographics.  Today, adult women represent a greater portion of the game-playing population (34 percent) than boys age 17 or younger (18 percent).
  • Twenty-five percent of game players are over the age of 50, an increase from nine percent in 1999.  This figure is sure to rise in coming years with nursing homes and senior centers across the nation now incorporating video games into their activities.
  • Forty-two percent of homes in America have a video game console.
  • Fifty-seven percent of online game players are male and 43 percent are female.  Thirty-seven percent of heads of households report they play games on wireless devices such as a cell phone or PDA, up from 20% in 2002.
  • Ninety-two percent of the time parents are present at the time games are purchased or rented.  Seventy-seven percent of parents believe that the parental controls available in all new video game consoles are useful.  In addition, 63 percent of parents believe games are a positive part of their children’s lives.

Overview of Intel’s Graphics Performance Analyzers Suite

Posted: April 14, 2010 in videos
0

System Analyzer and Frame Analyzer 2.0 Part 1

System Analyzer and Frame Analyzer 2.0 Part 2

 

Older Entries