Sometimes, people who want to design games don’t get to until they are lucky enough to get hired by one of the many companies that excel at it; and even then, they’d be hard-pressed to get the position they want. With ISU’s Game Development Club, students can now see what it’s like to make real games for real people, before they ever even graduate.

The ISU GDC was originally formed last spring with the goal of providing access on a higher

level to information and experience about game development. The club came to be when two groups that had no idea the other existed happened to find out that they had the exact same idea: start, and manage, a club meant for game developers and enthusiasts. Immediately the groups started working together and before long a constitution was defined.

Now, a year later, the club has lots of events and accomplishments under its belt and on the calendar. Last November a game development challenge called Nanogademo was held, which challenged students to create a full game by the end of the month. GDC is also in constant contact with Microsoft and Google, as one of their goals is to demonstrate to these companies how skilled its students are. Some members of the group already have internships lined up with Microsoft, and the companies are interested in getting more resumes.

This year at VEISHEA, the group will show off its most ambitious endeavor yet: to create and develop the best-polished games they’ve made in the course of the semester, and demo/display them during the annual ISU celebration.

Also hosted by GDC this year will be a Game Jam – sometimes called a “Hackathon” – in which participants are given a weekend to design the best playable game they can. Winners with the highest-quality game will receive a prize.

The group also has plans to get a guest speaker from the game development industry to talk on campus for the university.

GDC President Wallace Davis is a senior in Computer Engineering. He, like many others, was one of the students who helped originally form the GDC. Davis ran for President with the understanding of what the club should be, and what it would need to achieve to get there.

“As a group, the club exists to provide resources and a community for game development here at ISU,” Davis said. “We are a multi-disciplinary group, and we have a pretty decent number of different majors represented.”

Davis said that individual projects are not governed by anyone in the group and everyone is free to learn/develop what they please. Since every game that gets developed has rights that belong to the owner, that student may choose to turn it into an “indie” (independent) title or perhaps an App Store game.

Brittany Oswald, senior in Computer Engineering, is the secretary for the GDC. As one of the original founding members, Oswald said she too has a particular interest in ensuring the club’s success and longevity.

“We are trying to create a positive, fun atmosphere by hosting interesting club meetings which are entertaining and meet the needs of our members,” Oswald said. “The purpose of the club is to provide team building opportunities and introduce members to the tools, tutorials, and techniques used for game development.”

Oswald is also part of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) and the Iowa Game Developers Friendship Club (IGDF), through which she has met ISU alumni who have worked or are currently working for game development companies like juggernaut Electronics Arts, or EA, as well as “indie” game developers. She was also selected to attend this year’s Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco in March.

Because of her love for creativity, Oswald has created a multitude of interactive games. Her favorite is the aptly-named Dinosaurs Game that she made for her 3-year-old nephew. She said it was difficult to implement and learn the balance of challenge, fun and playability that a game for a toddler requires.

“At first I had to redesign the whole interface of my game to make it easier for him to navigate and use. It was so much fun to design the game with him in mind and to see him enjoy the game I created for him,” Oswald said. She has plans to integrate 3D mechanics into her Dinosaurs Game, which might even integrate the Xbox 360’s Kinect sensor.

Both Davis and Oswald said that the club does a very good job of helping overcome inevitable challenges that game designing brings, in addition to increased contact with potential employers. The group encourages students interested in game development to take classes that will even further help them succeed in the field.

Those interested in joining the Game Development Club can email President Wallace Davis at [email protected] or [email protected]. Davis said that the club accepts all applicants, “because if they were interested enough in game development to find out club page and apply, then they will feel right at home as a member of our club.”

Anyone interested in being a member of the GDC can apply online at the club’s Student Organization page, http://www.sodb.stuorg.iastate.edu/view.php?id=1946 , by clicking the “Request to Join” link.