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My students completed their mid-term map projects a few weeks ago and I’ve been wanting to update on the progress of the course. Everyone was required to recreate the map that is outlined for design in Half-Life 2 Mods for Dummies. I felt this was an important exercise for the class because it gave everyone familiarity with the tools and they all had a common goal that they could assist each other with if they needed to. It worked out well. The grades for this assignment were very high and I couldn’t have been more happy.

I selected the work of one of my students to share with the Internet as a representation of the map we completed in class. Andrew Ross is one of the student developers in my class who I felt demonstrated a near perfect submission. If you are interested in playing the map we completed you can download it here: Andrew Ross’ Mid-Term Map Submission

If you have any comments of feedback on the map feel free to leave it here. Also if you’d like to learn how to develop the map yourself, purchase a copy of the book here.

At the conclusion of the project we were lucky enough to have the map’s designer and our textbook author, Erik Guilfoyle  come and guest lecture. He talked to our class about the game development industry and what it is like to work within it. The students really enjoyed his talk and found it to be extremely informative.

Our class is now elbow deep in the development of their final projects. I will post about that and more at the completetion of the semester. Until then…

It is Sept 19th. Intro. to Game Design has entered its 3rd week. You’re probably wondering how everything has been going. Let’s recap:

• I secured academic licensing for Source for my entire class just in the nick of time
• I was able to get in touch with Half-Life 2 Mods for Dummies author and we’ve been communicating
• My developer contact at Valve offered additional advice on various issues of the course
• I completely fleshed out the entire rest of the semester

We started class on Sept. 7th. I was surprised to see that all of my students had laptops so that was a big relief for me as I was worried about the prospect of running my class’ hands-on lessons in Rider’s CIS Lab.

I have a mix of students in the class; hardcore gamers, casual gamers, & people who aren’t gamers. So far their attitudes about the course have been enthusiastic.

The capstone assignment for my course is for a student to design from scratch their own map in any of the Valve Source games we’ll be touching upon in class (Portal, HL2:DM, TF2, L4D, etc.). One student already approached me with his idea for the class and I must say I am very impressed with the vision this student has demonstrated in this short amount of time. I look forward to seeing his finished project.

We spent the first three week’s in Phil Co’s book to give the students a baseline about game development terminology and a high level overview of what game design entails. Today we started with the hands on exercises in Dummies to get them familiar with using Source SDK. We’ll see how it goes but I have high hopes thus far.

On the subject of teaching game design, Valve Corporation has rolled out its new initiative, Learning with Portals. Its nice to see that I am a little ahead of the curve on using Source SDK in class. I hope that it gets more widely adopted at both the collegiate and elementary/high school level.

I will report back in a few weeks to discuss our progress with the more advanced Source SDK techniques that the students will be learning soon.

Till then…

So if you have been a longtime fan of my site you’ll probably remember that I used to write about Palm phones all the time. Consulting with my archives shows however that I have not written about my personal smartphone use since August 1, 2005 when my Kyocera 7135 finally kicked the bucket. I honestly haven’t loved a phone as much since my old 7135. There were things it did that most cell phones today still don’t do. The old Palm OS was a great smartphone solution for many years but with the introduction of the iPhone it started showing its age. I still stayed true to Palm though because I was on Verizon. I had a Treo 650 & finally a Treo 755p. The 755p was my favorite of the Treos but it still didn’t compare with the 7135.

So what did I replace my Treo with? I got the original Droid from Verizon. It was the first Android phone on Verizon and it was the first major success for the Android OS. I had the Droid from the day it launched until I replaced it with a Windows 7 Phone back on June 20th, 2011. A lot of people wondered why I went I left the Android Device especially at a time of great prosperity for the OS. Not to mention people wondered why I didn’t go iPhone. We’ll get to all of that…

I left Android because the writing was on the wall for me. With Android’s OS fragmentation issues, OEM’s putting “custom skins” on top of the Android OS,  and the lack of “vanilla Android” devices on Verizon I was starting to grow worried. You know what all of this reminded me of? The old Windows Mobile 6.x days. Microsoft had screwed itself big time with their choices in regards to old Windows Mobile and now Google it seemed was making those same mistakes. On top of that my old trusty original Droid started having stability issues even after a complete wipe! My stay at Hotel Android was over, it was time to check out…

So what were my alternatives? iPhone, Blackberry, HP Pre, or Windows Phone 7. I had a Blackberry for sometime when I started working at Princeton University and I just never liked it. The OS was old and slow, you couldn’t surf the web that well, and their app selection was mega weak. But they did have nice keyboards! The HP Pre was the old Palm Pre and I was really excited about that phone when it was announced, but it took too long to get to Verizon and I stopped caring. So that leaves the iPhone and WP7…

I’ve never liked the iPhone and it seems I never will. Sure there are great apps on it but I have never enjoyed using the phones. Not to mention their call quality kind of blows and there is that whole “Apple as big brother” thing. Now I’m not one to be paranoid but their attitude about everything just really sucks. Not to mention that ever since I started supporting Mac’s exclusively in my professional life, the cracks have long been showing in the facade that is Apple. So the iPhone was out…

So that leaves Windows 7 Phone. There has been a lot of positive buzz about these phones since they launched. In addition to that I have owned 2 Zunes which I absolutely love as portable media players. The Zune OS is basically what WP7 was based off of. One of my gripes with Android towards the end of my run was how I was plagued by a bug in Android Exchange mail support and was not able to get my work e-mail on my phone for a solid month. I live and die by Exchange because at Princeton that is what our mail platform is. I knew that going with a Microsoft phone, Exchange support and compatibility with be near 100% at all times since Exchange is a Microsoft product. I was worried too about the Android apps I had grown to rely on. I wondered about wether the young Windows Phone 7 Marketplace had the same apps or equivalents? Turned out All but 2 of the 12 apps I regularly used were represented in Windows Phone 7. Not to mention, I always wanted an OFFICIAL Flickr app on Android and there never was one but Windows Phone 7 has one! So that was a one up in my book. So at this point I decided that Windows Phone 7 was the OS I wanted but what phone did I actually want?

Verizon made the choice easy for me, there is only one Windows Phone 7 device on Verizon, the HTC Trophy. Its got a nice size screen but no hard keyboard. You see I have fat fingers and I cannot for the life of me type on virtual keyboards. The only virtual keyboard I have ever been able to type on is the one on my Android Table and thats because the green is like 9 inches wide. The iPhone keyboard and the default Android OS keyboard were always big stumbling blocks for me. I made a promise to myself that I had to try out the HTC Trophy before I would buy it. So when I arrived at the Verizon store on June 20th, 2011 I asked the saleslady to let me try one out. She went and got one for me and I typed an e-mail out very fast without any mistakes. I don’t know what it is about the Windows Phone 7 keyboard but its easier to type on for some reason. I think its because the screen is wider then an iPhone or Droid screen but maybe I’m wrong. I told her to wrap it up as I was sold.

So here we are almost two months later and I still love the phone to death. The Zune Marketplace integration is wonderful. All the TV Shows I purchased on my Xbox are available for my phone for no extra cost. The Xbox Live compatibility is amazing. The quality of the games for Windows Phone 7 are very impressive. But most importantly, not since my old Nokia 5110 have I had such excellent call quality. Seriously I feel like Smartphone makers don’t even care if your phone can make a call. The HTC Trophy is the clearest phone I’ve ever used. However I have one complaint, if your phone has no service your battery drains mega fast. This was also a problem on my Droid and seems to be a common issue for most smartphones these days.

So there you go, buy a Windows Phone 7. I can almost guarantee you’ll be satisfied with it more so than any other phone you have ever owned!

My next phone you ask?

Definitely a John’s Phone.

As you can see above I have selected a book for my Game Design course that I am teaching at Rider this Fall. The book as you can see is titled “Half-Life 2 Mods for Dummies” and interestingly enough it is the only book of its type. I chose this book because I liked how it breaks down the level creation process while at the same time using various parts of development to teach you the use of each of the tools within Hammer (Source’s map editing software). I am about 10 chapters into this book and I was surprised how simple it is to create a map and then play your map. I think this simplicity will translate to success in the classroom for this Intro course. This simplicity has also validated my choice, in my mind, to teach Source SDK as opposed to Gamemaker 7, which was previously taught by others.

One of the most important goals of this course for me was to not only teach the technical aspects of level design but also some level design theory. I wanted students to understand what makes a good level. Luckily for me I was introduced to a developer at Valve Corporation who works there as a level designer. Valve as you know is the creator of Source and many of the games developed in Source. This developer and I have been conversing fairly regularly about my upcoming course and he has given me incredible insight into the world of level design. Through him I’ve learned about developing with a team, various online developer resources, and the importance of level design theory. He suggested a book to me entitled “Level Design for Games: Creating Compelling Game Experiences” by Phil Co. Phil as it turns out was one of the lead level designers on Portal 2 and I am told is one of the gaming industry’s most respected designers. I am about 4 chapters into this book and already I am happy that I selected it. The chapters thus far will teach the students the importance of pre-planning. I like how this book roots itself in teaching students to work out their levels on paper before they even begin to start using their tools. It reminds me of my days back in programming classes where we learned to pseudo code on paper. I can’t program for shit anymore but I can read the source code of many languages based on the strength of my pseudo code knowledge. I’ve always been grateful for that skill.

So based on the early successes of these two texts, I have been able to completely flesh out the month of September for this class. My goal is to use September and October as teaching months, where the students will learn the development tools and level design theory. Then use November and December as development time for their final projects where they will demonstrate the knowledge gained in the course. That is my initial roadmap thus far, we’ll see if I want to stick to that as I get further into the course planning.

Another word of advise for professors looking to teach Source, if you decide to enroll your University in Valve’s Academic Licensing Program do it as early as possible. I started the process on June 20, 2011 and we’re still not enrolled yet. I wrote an e-mail to the COO of Valve today hoping to move things along. Hopefully that will kick start that for us as I am only a few weeks away from day 1 of class. I will keep you all posted on that as well going forward. I don’t know if anyone is reading this yet or not but if you have questions, use the comments below.

So after not having anything to write about for a really long time, I think I’ve finally stumbled across something worth documenting. This Fall I will be teaching “Intro to Game Design” for Rider University’s Computer Information System Department. The course was previously taught using a product called “GameMaker 7″. In my preparation for this class I have decided to move the class to Source SDK. I made this decision because many of the PC market’s top games have been developed recently in Source and I feel it will give my students some real hands on experience with tools actively being used for game development in the industry.

I have decided to chronicle my adventure with teaching Source SDK so that others can learn what a great platform it is for teaching Game Design. Hopefully some discussion will go on and questions will be asked. We will see how that goes. I plan on writing another post in the next day or so chronicling the work I have done already up until this point. From that point forward I will blog as I go.

So until then…

Congratulations AGAIN to GregColeman for winning my annual NCAA Tournament Challenge! This is 3 years in a ROW! Amazing!!!

John,

Few people knew what I felt on on Friday July 18th, 2008. That day was one of great sadness and great excitement. Excitement, because I knew that upcoming Monday I would begin working for one of the World’s BEST Institutions of Higher Education, Princeton University. Great sadness, because I was leaving a place that was truly a second home for me. It was a place that taught me to be an adult, a professional, & a scholar. I made many friends during my years there and learned many valuable lessons. But the most important lesson Rider University ever taught me is that no matter how much we love a particular place, you have to move on when you’re not realizing your full potential.

The path you walked at Rider was not very different from my own. We’ve talked at great length over the years about how much Rider University means to us and how grateful we are for the time we have spent there. As you leave Moore Library tomorrow for the last time; think not about how much you will miss Rider, but about all the valuable lessons you learned from it, that you will carry with you to Princeton. You will learn, as I did, that those Rider lessons give you valuable insight and perspective even at a place such as Princeton.

Enjoy your final hours at Rider tomorrow and know that in spirit I am with you.

I look forward to seeing you reunited with your transplanted Rider Brothers & Sister at Princeton University on Monday.

Thank you for your knowledge and your friendship.

Until Monday,

Sean

I have my own personal copy of this video on VHS. Been meaning to bug Shaun Holland to digitize it for me but kept forgetting. Luckily someone already took care of it for me. Started thinking about my old days with Funcoland after someone randomly posted this photo of me on reddit.com.

Here is to Funcoland #307 in Toms River, NJ!

Today, Greg and I were chatting on Google Talk and he asked me if I ever heard of Archive.org. Of course I had! He just discovered it. During our conversation I went and plugged in the old URL: www.theward.net Greg had already beaten me to this idea as he had told me he spent a considerable amount of time with it yesterday. As I began clicking through I realized that they had captured a sizable chunk of what TheWard was all about, especially during its most important years. Like catching up with an old friend, I was reminded of things I had completely forgotten about. It was a wonderful experience for me.

A lot of my early success as a blogger was because of being a part of TheWard Universe. It exposed me to a lot of other Bloggers in the country and even put me in touch with some of them. Two that come to mind are Trevor & Alecia from Arizona. I haven’t spoken to them in years but we’re actually friends on Facebook. Ryan and I haven’t spoken much either which is weird because his wife is from Lawrenceville and I live there still. But because of TheWard I was getting 1,000 unique visitors each month to my site. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to achieve that level of legitimate traffic ever since & that is fine.

So that leaves on person, Greg Coleman. We’ve remained close friends before TheWard and after. We discovered medieval knights together, celebrated two of the craziest birthday celebrations of all time (His 20th & 21st), lived together for a year, we were neighbors for 2, and we still call Lawrenceville our home. Greg has always been and always will be a friend who I value a great deal. But when Greg decided to no longer write for TheWard my heart was broken. I knew that TheWard would not be the same without his writings or graphics & I was right. Ryan kept TheWard going but it descended into a blog about coding and open standards. Which was what Ryan’s world was all about at that time. Greg never wrote for another blog ever again. For years I tried to get him to go back to it but it never took. I think Greg’s thought process on that has been that there is no Misfits without Glenn Danzig. Its just not the same without the original team. I can respect that.

So I ask you to go here: http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://theward.net

Visit this archival collection of a blog you probably never knew existed, it will probably be a fun trip.

Also for an even more hilarious bit, read this interview with yours truly from January of 2003. It really captures what I was all about in January of 2003. Enjoy: http://web.archive.org/web/20030330234129/www.theward.net/blog/archives/000204.html

So to Ryan & Greg I say this final piece, you were both good Bloggers. You were an amazing team. Like all good things, TheWard came to an end. But you do realize that if you had stuck it out, you probably would have had a book deal or a TV Show or something right? Hell TheWard could have been CollegeHumor.com for all we know…

Morons