Game Art

The Game Art program is created by Rodrigo Cortez, GDC lecturer and Lead artist on the award winning World in Conflict, working in cooperation with Tobias Strömvall, Cinematic Director, responsible for all the amazing cutscenes in World in Conflict.

What does a Game Artist do?
The game artist works mainly with creating visual content for games. Content such as 3D-models, 2D-images, animations, visual effects, etc. As any game developer position the game artist needs to be a good team player and adapt to work with their team members to produce great games. The Game Art program at The Game Assembly focuses mainly on creating 3D game models. However we do have shorter courses for the students to try several fields within game art and there are plenty of opportunities during the game projects to appeal to a wide audience, whether you like drawing concept art, modeling 3D models, animating characters, etc.

All game art students must buy their own Wacom (drawing tablet). Minimum requirement for the students Wacom is A5.

Curriculum 550 YHP

Introduction to 2D (25 YH-points)
Text Adventure Game Project (20 YH-points)
3D Introduction: Basics (25 YH-points)
3D Intermediate: Production Projects (25 YH-points)
Point And Click Game Project (20 YH-points)
Concept Art & Texturing (20 YH-points)
Shoot Em Up Game Project (20 YH-points)
Rigging (5 YH-points)
Animation (10 YH-points)
Turn Based Strategy Game Project (20 YH-points)
Video Editing (5 YH-points)
Teambuilding (5 YH-points)
3D Advanced: Dynamics (5 YH-points)
3D Advanced: Sculpting (15 YH-points)
Space Shoot Em Up Game Projects (25-YHpoints)
3D Advanced: Production Projects (15 YH-points)
Shaders (5 YH-points)
Real Time Strategy Game Project (25 YH-points)
Game Engine (5 YH-points)
Portfolio Creation (10 YH-points)
Individual Projects (25 YH-points)
Genre Bound Project (25 YH-points)
Game Development Project (45 YH-points)
LiA (150 YH-points)

Introduction to 2D (25 YH-points)

In this course the students will learn basic drawing techniques, such as shape, color, values and human anatomy for drawing purposes in order to work with game art. It is essential for the students to understand that even thought 3D graphics is a very technical craft it is still based of the fundaments of good concepts. Throughout this course the students will get different practical assignments.

Text Adventure Game Project (20 YH-points)

In this course the students will work together as a small game development team and create a small playable game according to specifications. The game art students will be working together with the game programming students as a team. These game projects are tailored according to the students current skillsets, therefor the level of complexity of these projects will increase along with every new project. During the project the student groups will get guidance from the teachers on a regular basis.

3D Introduction: Basics (25 YH-points)

This course covers key areas of 3D graphics on a basic level. The students will acquire knowledge of what is possible and how to produce different aspects of 3D graphics. At The Game Assembly the main 3D Software package used is Autodesk Maya for general 3D graphics purposes. Throughout this course the students will get different practical assignments.

3D Intermediate: Production Projects (25 YH-points)

This course will focus on the game modeling, UV-mapping and texturing parts of 3D graphics. The students will learn different software tools, techniques and general pointers on what and what not to do. Throughout this course the students will get different practical assignments.

Point And Click Game Project (20 YH-points)

Concept Art & Texturing (15 YH-points)

This course will give the students an understanding of good concept art and how it can be used effectively when creating 3D game art. During the course the students will also learn a few texturing techniques and how to apply them. Throughout this course the students will get different practical assignments.

Shoot Em Up Game Project (20 YH-points)

Rigging (5 YH-points)

This course will briefly cover 3D rigging techniques as well as skinning. The main focus will be characters and the students will get several useful pointers, how to model segments for good deformations, etc. Throughout this course the students will get different practical assignments.

Animation (10 YH-points)

This course will briefly cover animating 3D objects. The main focus will be characters and the course will apply traditional animation techniques but within a 3D software package. The students will learn concepts such as squash and stretch, anticipation, secondary motion, etc. Throughout this course the students will get different practical assignments.

Turn Based Strategy Game Project (20 YH-points)

This course will essentially be one big project where he students will get to work with creating a synopsis, work with a storyboard and edit video in Adobe Premiere.

Teambuilding (5 YH-points)

This course will give the students knowledge and insight on how different individuals are, how to communicate in a work team, how to avoid and solve conflicts, etc.

3D Advanced: Dynamics (5 YH-points)

This course will give the students a brief insight to the Dynamics part of Maya. The students will work with rigid bodies, soft bodies, fields, particles, etc. Throughout this course the students will get different practical assignments.

3D Advanced: Sculpting (15 YH-points)

This course will give the students knowledge of how you can give an extra layer of detail to real-time 3D characters using Zbrush. The students will learn how to use several sculpting tools, normal map baking in Zbrush, workflow when working with Zbrush together with Maya, etc. Throughout this course the students will get different practical assignments.

Space Shoot Em Up Game Projects (25 YH-points)

3D Advanced: Production Projects (15 YH-points)

In this course the students work with a few realistic production projects where they get to work with a concept, everything from the initial sketches to a fully featured game model. The goal is to take these projects to industry standard. The underlying thought is for the students to get a few solid portfolio pieces from this course. The main areas this course covers are drawing, modeling, uv mapping, texturing, normal maps, basic shading models and basic rigging.

Shaders (5 YH-points)

This course focuses on real time shaders. The students will learn basic color math and we will dissect different popular shader features. The students will get to create their own custom shaders.

Game Engine (5 YH-points)

In this course the students will learn that there is a technical aspect to game art as well, it’s not only about making a good looking model. During this course we will work with a pre made game engine and explore different parts of it.

Real Time Strategy Game Project (25 YH-points)

During this course the students will view and discuss other artist’s portfolios and showreels. Dissect them in order to determine what works well and what doesn’t. The students will also gather their material created so far and plan their own portfolios/showreels. The students will each get individual help on planning their portfolios/showreels.

Individual Projects (25 YH-points)

The purpose of this course is for the students to work on and improve their personal portfolios and showreels. They will work according to the planning they have set together with the teachers during the “Portfolio Creation” course. The students will get regular coaching and follow up talks with the teachers during this course.

Genre Bound Project (25 YH-points)

Game Development Project (45 YH-points)

LiA (150 YH-points)

During this course the students will work at a real game development studio, taking part in their daily work and learning the ways of the trade. The students are responsible for finding a spot at a company themselves. The school will do it’s best to help the students succeed with this but cannot guarantee anything.

Datum att rapportera in till CSN

The Game Assembly HT intag 2011
HT2011 – 20110829 – 20111216 = 16 veckor = termin 1= 80 yhp
VT2012 – 20120102 – 20120615 = 24 veckor = termin 2=120 yhp
HT2012 – 20120903 – 20121221 = 16 veckor = termin 3 = 80 yhp
VT2013 – 20130107 – 20130621 = 24 veckor = termin 4 =120 yhp
HT2013 – 20130902 – 20131220 = 16 veckor = termin 5= 80 yhp
VT2014 – 20140106 – 20140411 = 14 veckor = termin 6= 70 yhp

The Game Assembly HT intag 2012
HT2012 – 20120903 – 20121221 16 veckor = termin 1 = 80 yhp
VT2013 – 20130107 – 20130621 24 veckor = termin 2 =120 yhp
HT2013 – 20130902 – 20131220 = 16 veckor = termin 3= 80 yhp
VT2014 – 20140106 – 20140620 = 24 veckor = termin 4=120 yhp
HT2014 – 20140901 – 20141219 = 16 veckor = termin 5= 80 yhp
VT2015 – 20150105 – 20150410 = 14 veckor = termin 6= 70 yhp