Published 2010-09-22T00:00:00Z”/>
Gina Pence
Chico State Game Studios is a production class where students collaborate to create a video or computer game every three semesters. This semester is the final one for the puzzle game “40 Stories.” Scott Washington is a Chico State alumnus and director of production for “40 Stories.”
<strong>Q:</strong> What is Chico State Game Studios?
<strong>A:</strong> It’s essentially a class where we get students from all areas of campus to put together a game.
<strong>Q:</strong> What kind of games do you produce?
<strong>A:</strong> We do small project games from two to five people and we have larger projects, which have upwards of 60 people working on.
<strong>Q:</strong> What is “40 Stories”?
<strong>A:</strong> It’s the large project that we’re working on this semester. We’ve been working on it since fall 2009. It’s a video puzzle game where you use clones of yourself to solve puzzles.
<strong>Q:</strong> When can students expect to be able to play it?
<strong>A:</strong> We should have a finished product by the end of December. We’ve done similar projects for about five years now, but this will be the first time we’ve finished a project within the timeline.
<strong>Q:</strong> How can students use their experiences in this class for their careers?
<strong>A:</strong> Mainly what game developers look for are finished products &- being able to stick with a game till the very end. We learn teamwork, above all. Students work with people in different fields, different personalities and they learn to work together.
<strong>Q:</strong> What are some departments that contribute to this project?
<strong>A:</strong> We have concept artists who paint stuff. They do illustrations of what the game will look like. We have modelers who create 3-D assets that go into the game. We have animators who give the characters movement. We have programmers who make codes to make the game run. We have audio engineers from the music department who make sounds for us. We have level designers who create the puzzles. This whole game is composed by students in this class.
<strong>Q:</strong> How does this relate to real-world experience?
<strong>A</strong>: We treat it as an actual game production. We have student leaders that lead groups and give assignments and critique, and professors Clarke Steinbeck and Frank Pereira who oversee to make sure things don’t get out of control.
<strong>Q:</strong> What is it like to direct such a large project?
<strong>A</strong>: It’s tough. It’s time consuming, but really rewarding. It’ll be awesome to have a finished game. I don’t do much on the project, but I make sure everything flows. To have a finished project would be really sensational.
-Compiled by Gina Pence
