OUGDA, Ohio University's Game Developers Association, staff has boomed during Fall Semester.
Tyler Blust and Courtney Irby stand in front of faces illuminated by screen savers and dimmed lights from above.
The room, tucked in a corner under the Ohio University’s Police Department in Scott Quad, is stuffed with humidity, gloom and about 20 to 30 student gamers.
“OK,” Blust, a senior studying games and animation, said as the reflection from a PowerPoint blares into his face. “The first thing we’re going to do is show you guys how we’re going to develop a game.”
Blust and Irby, a senior studying games and animation, are involved in one of Ohio University’s newer clubs: OU Game Developers Association, or "OUGDA" for short. OUGDA, started in 2011, is a chapter of the International Game Developers Association, which has chapters in more than a dozen countries worldwide according to its website.
Last year, OUGDA only had roughly nine members. This year, its numbers have nearly tripled.
"Basically, what we do is we want to help anybody that wants to get into game design and get them up to speed on what this school does," Blust said. "The program you have for class teaches you a lot of the basics and how to make a game. Problem is, you have to spend a lot of time outside of class and that becomes a self-motivation thing.”
The first bullet point, or step in game development, shown on the PowerPoint behind Blust and Irby reads: pre-production.
The duo, along with two other veteran members Kevin Bruggeman, a senior studying games and animation, and Taylor Rohrig, a sophomore studying games and animation, elaborate on how the process of game development starts with the mind and creativity.
“It’s fun, it’s going to make people want to play your game. And then you want to do everything around this idea,” Blust said.
Blust, the president of OUGDA, joined the program to kick-start his dream: crafting the storyline behind a video game.
Blust was a part of the production team last year for “Super Sloth”, an endless-platforming game which allows players to rack up points based on how long they can survive. In Apple's App Store, the free game has been rated by 58 different customers — almost all of them positive.
“I love pitching ideas, thinking of them and then months later, seeing how that comes out,” Blust said.
Irby, the group's vice president, had different aspirations.
“The game that encapsulates everything as a concept artist that I want to communicate is 'Destiny,'” Irby said. “I love its art (style). Their art is so tastefully done.”
The second step in the PowerPoint presentation: production.
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The OUGDA board splits the crowd into groups of five, what Blust likes to call a “game jam.” The groups then take 25 minutes discussing possible game titles, mechanics and target audience for their games.
Blust said at OUGDA they try to enforce self-motivation, giving those involved a feeling of “purpose” to their craft, which for some could one day lead to a job.
Game developing is one of the fastest growing job markets in the United States, according to an Entertainment Software Association report in 2014.
According to the report, direct employment in the U.S. gaming industry grew at annual rate of 9 percent from 2009 to 2012. Total U.S. employment increased just roughly 0.7 percent during that time.
"I would say (OUGDA) gives people the ability to learn, design and create video games," Derek Kruk, a junior studying integrated media who tutors OUGDA members, said. "Which gives them good experience when they leave Ohio."
The final step: post-production.
The groups unite and describe their projects to the others.
The first group expands on “Pterodactyl": an endless 2-D runner game, in which the player, taking control of a pterodactyl hovering over lava, survives as long as possible against plumes and explosions.
The groups continue to take turns — each describing its respected idea — as OUGDA board members critique.
“It’s a consuming process. To get to that end, you need to understand how much you have to put into, how much you’re going to have to put into it,” Irby said. “It’s wanting something and going for it, all out. That’s pretty much game development in a nutshell.”
After critique and a disclosing statement from Blust, the groups disband and walk outside the rooms formerly housing the GRID Lab to downpour and lightning.
"A lot of the seniors who are here now had to bring themselves up for a lot of this," Irby said. "And we understand that a lot of people fell through cracks of the game development class because they didn't feel motivated, or they didn't know how to teach themselves. So we take some pride in being able to teach students from all kinds of majors."
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Lr514812@ohio.edu
