Video Game Development Courses

Our Foundation Studies curriculum includes everything you need to get started: two C++ programming courses, a quick primer on high school level mathematics, an introductory course on 3D graphics programming techniques, and an easy to use level design tool with accompanying documentation.

Foundation level courses lay the groundwork for the more challenging offerings here at Game Institute and are very important pre-requisites if you intend to pursue advanced training on video game development. This package provides a good introduction to the video game software development process and as such, is highly recommended if you lack programming experience or are not yet sure whether game programming is an appropriate field of study for you. But even if you decide that game development is not something you wish to pursue further, the core programming language experience you will gain with these courses will provide you with marketable new skills that can be applied in other sectors.

For more information on some of our foundation level courses, select from the links below or scroll down to the course catalog.

In this first C++ course, you will become proficient with core C++ topics such as variables, console input and output, functions, loops, programming logic, pointers, strings, classes, and object oriented design and methodologies. In addition, you will study more complex C++ subject matter, such as operator overloading, file input and output, inheritance, and polymorphism. When practical to do so, game related examples are used to motivate the discussions.

In this second C++ course, you will begin to move away from the text-based console applications we built in Module I, and begin to examine Windows programming with the Win32 API. With the Win32 API, you will be able to write programs that look a lot more like those that you are probably very familiar with; ones with resizable windows, mouse input, graphics, menus, toolbars, scroll bars, dialog boxes, and controls.

Of particular interest to us as game programmers is the ability to do graphics with the Win32 API, something which is not possible with pure C++. You will learn about fundamental graphic concepts such as double buffering, sprites, animation and timing, and masking. By the end of the course, you will have developed a fully functional 2D game, complete with graphics, physics, artificial intelligence, and input via the mouse. After completing this course, you will be adequately prepared for your first course in 3D graphics programming.

Most game developers work only with software-based hardware abstraction layers (i.e. DirectX, OpenGL) and are comfortable knowing that they can make a function call and draw a set of nicely shaded triangles onscreen. These abstraction layers hide a lot of detail from the user, which is great for fast development across many different platforms, but unfortunately they also deprive the student of an abundance of knowledge that the top game developers used to have, but few nowadays do.

To develop a game for a console that you not only designed, but also hand-built with your own soldering iron, is one of the most enriching learning experiences you will ever have as a game developer or software engineer. There is no better way to develop a fundamental understanding of console architecture, or give you that sense of total ownership and mastery of a subject, than doing it yourself. This lost art is what this course is all about: learning how to design, build, and modify your own game consoles from scratch.

The Introduction to Robotics course is designed to give students an interesting insight into the world of electronics and robotics from a beginner's perspective. You will learn all of the electrical theory and concepts necessary to construct basic electronic circuits in addition to becoming familiar with programming using the PBASIC language and software. With these foundations in place, you will then begin to build your very own robot using the kit included with the course. With your robot finally constructed, you can then begin to experiment with a variety of hardware configurations and write programs to allow the robot to navigate intelligently and autonomously!

The 3D Engine Programming Series represents the central part of your video game developer training here at Game Institute. This is a series of courses and workshops in which you will learn how to build a modern three-dimensional game engine with supporting tools, from scratch. This series also represents the most thorough training you will find anywhere on the planet regarding the DirectX 9 API. So it should come as no surprise to you that it will be here that you will spend the majority of your time, resources, and brainpower.

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After completing the first two courses in the series, you will have a proven technology infrastructure from which we can begin selecting components for assembly into your final game engine. There is still plenty more to learn and a lot of new pieces to develop, but things will begin to move a bit more rapidly at this point. The final part of your training will take place over a series of large but highly targeted workshops designed to start snapping together critical components one piece at a time.

This course will introduce you to fundamental modeling techniques for games and other multimedia applications using the 3D Studio MAX software. Course content will focus on developing core modeling skills, modifier usage, and polygonal modeling principles. Some tutorials will focus on skills that will immediately transfer towards building in-game assets (exportable to a game engine). Other tutorials will build toward game asset creation and, while not immediately exportable to games directly, they will help you understand the basic concepts of model creation. In either case, the goal of the course is to help you learn how to create game models using the modeling tool.

This course will build on the skills covered in the first module of the 3DSMAX for Games series of classes. Course content will center on organic modeling skills, UVW mapping techniques and advanced polygonal modeling principles. Most tutorials will focus on skills that will immediately transfer well towards building in game assets and characters (exportable to a game engine). Course contents can be used to create game assets or higher poly meshes, but in either case the skills needed to create exportable game engine assets will be covered in this class.

Characters are extremely important in games these days. Characters get better with each new generation of games. The main character can be the most recognizable symbol for the game, often the most important branding for the game franchise. In many types of games, the main character is on-screen for the vast majority of the time the game is played. For these reasons and many others, a game character animator is a high-paying and high-profile job.

In this course you will learn about the fundamental mathematics used in the modern game engine development process. This course combines key elements from the fields of geometry, trigonometry, and linear algebra, to give you insight into the mathematics used by all game developers when making realistic computer games. This course is very heavily theory focused and as such can be taken in conjunction with most other Game Institute courses. However, it is highly recommended that you first complete Graphics Programming with DirectX 9 Module I before attempting this course, since the graphics programming course includes a more rapid, code-focused practical examination of basic game math.

Although the field of artificial intelligence is vast, there are some fundamental techniques and data structures that are used time and again in almost every game application that incorporates AI. The purpose of this course is not to provide you with a comprehensive overview of the entire field of artificial intelligence, but rather to focus on the most important data structures and algorithms that you as a game developer will need to understand if you wish to include intelligent NPCs in your games. As you progress through the course, you will develop your own extendable AI class library. This library will serve as the foundation for incorporating sophisticated artificial intelligence into your current and future game development projects.

By applying the laws of physics, you can realistically model nearly everything in games that bounces around, flies, rolls, slides, or isn't sitting still. This allows you to create compelling, believable content for computer games, simulations, and animation. If you want to enrich your games with physics-based realism, this course serves as an excellent starting point. Topics will range from basic Newtonian physics to vehicle modeling to spring-mass systems. Before taking this course, it is strongly recommended that you complete the Game Mathematics course and at least the first course in the Engine Programming Series.

The following courses have been created by partners and associates of the Game Institute and are hosted on our learning management system. Since these courses are often targeted at very specific audiences and are not part of the core Game Institute curriculum, students should carefully read the course descriptions to determine whether the offerings contain appropriate subject matter for their course of study.