If you are looking into becoming a video game developer in the future, the Video Game Development Club is a great place to join. This can provide a great opportunity for students interested in making video games or who just want to take their software development skills to a new level. The club has an excellent team of leaders to help you review what you need to know about making video games. 

You don’t need any experience to join. In fact, the whole reason we built this club is to help people become video game developers. 

The club is an excellent way for people to collaborate on an exciting project from multiple angles such as audio, art, design, and programming.  Each member will have a different role, based on these angles. You can imagine you’re working in the game industry. While you’re working with everyone, each member “would check in, make decisions on stuff, and then spend the rest of the time working on their current project,” said long-time club member, Joyce Langman.

Langman said the club spent the last fall working on a game called “The Hawthorne Effect.” 

“It was a 3D post-apocalyptic horror game set in a camera factory where you had to sneak around several light-based monsters to take the factory back,” she said. “You also had to manage where the power went by using a fuse box so you could light up or darken areas to give you an advantage against the creatures.” 

Throughout the development, each club member will present new ideas, such as new characters and level designs. Our designers use Unreal Engine, a program used by both indie and AAA video game developers, to create a layout of the environment and add additional props. Our programmers type in C++ code to control the events occurring in the game. The people in charge of audio will create sound effects. 

As each member contributes, they’ll eventually create the final version of the game that’ll be fully functional and ready to play. This is how a regular semester will be spent in the club.

Now that we’re entering a new semester, and with more members joining, the club leadership is focusing on how to restructure the club to improve its members’ experience. Club President Antonio Gallegos wants “to use the club as a way for people to network, discuss ideas, and learn how to create a playable video game. Our club has three main goals: create video games, introduce members to the video game industry, and provide hands-on experience that can be included in portfolios and/or resumes.” 

We believe the club offers a good opportunity to those who are planning to become video game developers or those who want to just entertain the idea.

If you’re interested in joining, our club meets a 3 p.m., Thursdays, in SCC-101 (the Seaton Computing Center). Students can join virtually via the club Discord. We also use Discord to stay in touch with everyone outside the club meeting if we ever want to discuss ideas from a distance. If you ever miss a meeting, notes will be provided in the meeting-notes chat.

If you want to take your programming, audio, art, or designing skills to the next level by creating video games, the COD Video Game Development Club has got you covered! Feel free to join via the Discord link or contact Club Adviser, Steve Santello ([email protected]), Club President, Antonio Gallegos ([email protected]), or me, Vice President Johnny Chirayil ([email protected]), if you have any questions.