Level Design & Game Development in Unreal Engine: July 21-25, 9 AM to 3 PM

$175 per student . Deposit of $87.50 due upon registration, balance due ten days before class begins.

With 3D art and game development becoming more accessible than ever, interest in these fields is growing - especially within our Tri-Cities community. This course introduces students to the exciting world of digital media using free, professional-grade tools like Blender and Unreal Engine. Throughout the week, students will learn the fundamentals of 3D modeling, game development, level design, and basic gameplay scripting. By the end of the course, they will apply these skills to bring their own original project to life, limited only by their imagination.

Useful Experience

• Basic computing and file navigation skills
• Interest in games and how they are made
• Interest in the design process and composition

Technical Requirements

Computers will be available in the computer lab here at Create Appalachia. We suggest that students bring a decently-sized thumb drive for saving their work during and upon completion of the class. Also, students are encouraged to bring a sketchbook and a pencil or pen. This is of course not mandatory, but it helps for conceptualizing a model or a level.

Course Goals

• Introduce game design in both artistic and technical senses
• Introduce common practices within the game design industry
• Introduce basic modeling skills while navigating 3D design space
• Learn aspects of the design process through implementation and practice
• Learn how to create and edit a custom level in Unreal Engine
• Introduce visual scripting and gameplay interaction through use of Unreal Blueprints
• Design an interactive level within the engine that implements puzzles, interaction, navigation, pathing, and most importantly: fun!

INSTRUCTOR BIO: Jane Anderson is a graduate student at East Tennessee State University. As an undergrad, she majored in Game Design in Digital Media. As a graduate, she now does a little bit of everything! She is a 2D animator, level designer, illustrator, storyboarder, and concept artist all under the umbrella term of "Visual Developer". She has worked on a few game projects both solo and as part of an indie team - Fun-Size and Scryptid just to name a couple. She has taught animation and game design and has a passion for making concepts and content that is both informative and accessible to students. The games industry can be complicated, so she wants to make it as straightforward and digestible as possible for her students.

Jane's favorite game is Skyrim - heavily modded Skyrim. Ask her about it and she may go on for hours. She also plays World of Warcraft, a little bit of Minecraft, other Elder Scrolls games like Oblivion and Morrowind, and too much Fire Emblem. She also plays DnD with her fellow grads. In her free time, she draws digitally. It's her favorite thing.

Create Appalachia strives to make our region a better place to live and work by supporting innovation and creative entrepreneurship. Our primary focus is startups and small businesses that marry creativity and technology. Our goal is to incubate new businesses, increase employment opportunities for creatives, and highlight the key role that creativity plays in the region’s economic vitality.

Host or Publisher Create Appalachia