DigiPen Institute of Technology
| Motto | "A serious education for a serious career." |
|---|---|
| Type | Career college |
| Established | 1988 |
Academic staff | Claude Comair |
| Undergraduates | 750 |
| Postgraduates | 40 |
| Location | , , |
| Campus | Suburban |
| Website | www.digipen.edu |
DigiPen Institute of Technology is a college located in Redmond, Washington which has a focus on art, computer science, and computer engineering with emphasis in creating video games.
History
DigiPen was founded in 1988 by Claude Comair in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. The school relocated to Redmond in January 1998.
In May 1996 the Washington State Higher Education Coordinating Board granted DigiPen the ability to award an Associate and Bachelor of Science Degrees in Real-Time Interactive Simulation and an Associate of Applied Arts Degree in 3D Computer Animation. This made DigiPen the first university in the world dedicated to teaching how to create video games.
In 2002 a sister campus was opened in Beirut, Lebanon. Currently the Lebanon campus only offers one degree in the programming aspects of video game creation.[citation needed]
A sister campus in Singapore will also offer the Bachelor of Science in Real-Time Interactive Simulation and the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Production Animation beginning in Fall 2008. This campus is currently seeking accreditation.
Campus
DigiPen consists of two campuses, the Main Campus and the Art Campus.
The Main Campus is part of a rented building from Nintendo of America. The bottom floor is Nintendo of America's warehouse where games and systems are shipped out. The top floor is mostly DigiPen, with Nintendo Software Technology on the north-east quarter. In 2002, DigiPen expanded its hold on the second floor by acquiring approximately another quarter, adding four new classrooms and a new place for the library. Two-thirds of the rooms are filled with computers for student use — only one-third are lecture halls without computers.
The newest addition to DigiPen is the Art Campus, located about two miles away from the Main Campus near Redmond Town Center. Digipen opened this new campus at the beginning of the Fall 2007 semester to provide classrooms for all the B.F.A students, and to accommodate the growing student body. However, it is uncertain how this division will impact cooperation between the R.T.I.S. and B.F.A. students during future student projects.
DigiPen regularly hosts speakers from the video game industry as well as related artistic and mathematical fields to give talks and lectures.
Education
DigiPen has three primary educational paths: Applied/Fine Arts, Computer Engineering, and Real Time Interactive Simulation (RTIS - video game development). Compared to a standard computer science curriculum, students start a very rigorous course with C, advance to object oriented programming with C++, and all take 2D Windows GUI and 3D graphics and sockets networking. Many students build robotic vehicles as projects. The art programs are taught from a computer-oriented perspective, though many art students do not intend to work in the game industry and attend DigiPen for its unique curriculum and businesslike atmosphere. RTIS students are taught aspects of development including programming, design, and marketing. Though there are liberal arts classes also in the curriculum, all required courses are pertinent to game development. Starting in the fall of 2008, DigiPen is offering a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Arts in Game Design. DigiPen also offers a master's degree in computer science, and Comair plans to add a Ph.D. program as well.
Students
DigiPen is the only educational institution whose students have placed in the professional category at the Game Developers Conference, having done so in each year since 2004. Additionally, DigiPen students have placed the largest number of student projects in the Independent Games Festival student showcase every year since it began, with a seven-year total of 23 winning game projects. The next three closest institutions have placed five, four and three games in the showcase over six years.[1]
Other student run commissions include SAPR, DigiPen's student-run Public Relations committee and the CEC, the Campus Entertainment Committee. The CEC handles tournaments, movies, and other activities.
Student work (games)
Freshman year DigiPen students spend first semester working with an in-house integrated development environment (IDE) called the FUNEditor and must collaborate to make a text based game over the second semester. Sophomore year, student game teams must make graphical (2D) games. Junior year, the games must include networking, and often serve as the first real experimentation with physics and artificial intelligence. The senior games are significantly less restricted to allow for more artistic control, but must demonstrate technical competence and be in 3D.
The games are copyrighted and owned by DigiPen, but many of the best may be downloaded and played for free.
Some of the award-winning games made by the students are:
- Synaesthete - IGF Student Showcase, 2008. IGF Best Student Game, 2008. Finalist, Excellence in Visual Art Award, professional category, IGF, 2008.
- Empyreal Nocturne - IGF Student Showcase, 2008.
- Toblo - Northwest Games Festival Audience Award, 2006. Intel's Best Game on the Go, 2006. Slamdance Finalist, 2007. Finalist, Design Innovation Award, professional category, IGF, 2007. IGF Student Showcase, 2007. IGF Best Student Game, 2007.
- Base Invaders - Slamdance Finalist, 2007. IGF Student Showcase, 2007.
- Gelatin Joe 2 - IGF Student Showcase, 2007.
- RumbleBox - Finalist, innovation in game design, professional category, IGF, 2006. Slamdance Physics Award, 2006.
- Narbacular Drop - IGF Student Showcase, 2006.
- Orblitz - IGF Student Showcase, 2006.
- Sea of Chaos - IGF Student Showcase, 2006.
- Scavenger Hunt - IGF Student Showcase, 2005. Slamdance Audience Award, 2005.
- Rock Station - IGF Student Showcase, 2005.
- Kisses - Finalist, professional category, IGF, 2005.
- Bontãgo - Winner, innovation in game design, professional category, IGF, 2004.
- Ice Wars - IGF Student Showcase, 2004.
- Scrapped - IGF Student Showcase, 2004.
- Vektor Space - IGF Student Showcase, 2003.
- Crazy Cross - IGF Student Showcase, 2003.
- Valence - IGF Student Showcase, 2003.
- Mall Monster - IGF Student Showcase, 2003.
- Commando Attack Sub - IGF Student Showcase, 2002.
- T.H.U.G.S. - IGF Student Showcase, 2002.
- MatrixAttack - IGF Student Showcase, 2001.
- GenJox - IGF Student Showcase, 2001.
Notable staff
- Claude Comair — Founder and current president
- Prasanna Ghali — Graphics professor and industry veteran
- Jazno Francouer — Former Lead Effects Animator for Disney
- Tony White — Award winning Animator and author of two animation textbooks
Summer camps
There are several facilities which host Digipen Advanced Computer Science classes for high school students to take during their regular school day. These same courses are available to everyone to take during the summer for a fee.