Gaming Is the Goal; Teaming Is the Strategy

RALEIGH, N.C. — Teamwork is the name of the game in designing a computer game. It's got to click, which is one of the lesson's being learned by a group of kids who have only just met one another at Digital Gaming Camp at Wake Technical Community College.

An important part of the job is “making sure everything works perfectly, (is) to the point, (and) there are no mistakes,” said student Margaret Pearce.

“Teamwork is of ultimate importance because you're always going to be working with people,” instructor Brad Swearingen said.

“You have to have a creative mind to do this,” Pearce said.

The goal of a game that one group is creating is to move through all the levels, get all the medallions.

“They're doing really good. They have a concept right now,” Swearingen said.

They really are creating video games.

“To make it launch, I had to program this space bar to do that and then how fast i wanted to launch and which direction,” student Nicholas Cuffie said.

“I like the actual animating, which is what I'm doing,” said Alex Coats, another student.

“After they design it comes the fun part. They get to game-test it, and then they get to show it to everyone else and put it in their portfolio for later,” Swearingen said.