About the Program

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About the Program

This is a program at the GRCTC that gives students hands-on experience in video game development and to prepare students for a career as a video game developer or prepare them for college in related fields. As part of the hands-on experience this program will have projects that simulate the workflow of development, from production to release. These projects will also help students learn project management and experience what it’s like to work in a development team.

As this is a two year dual credit program, students will be able to earn college credits as this program facilitates several Dallas College courses; they will be taking this class at college level.

Required Materials

Materials will differ per student depending on their focused roles.

Required:

USB Storage device of at least 32 GB.
- Recommended: USB External Hard Drive or External Solid State Drive of at least 128 GB or higher if you plan to work at home.
Graph paper - 4 squares per inch.

Instructor Contact Information

Instructor: Dan Nguyen

GISD Email: dnguyen3@garlandisd.net
Dallas College Email: dnguyen@dallascollege.edu (for students enrolled on Dallas College campuses)
Dallas College Email: dnguyen2@dallascollege.edu (for any dual credit students)
Phone/Voicemail: 972-487-4588 ext. 64061

Please only use the GISD email for students attending classes at any GISD campuses. Only use the Dallas College email if you do not attend at any GISD campuses.

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisite course, but there are some recommendations. Having some level of background using computers to create art or code will help a lot.

Recommendations

The following are recommended but not required, just any one of the following:

Principles of Arts, A/V Technology, and Communications
Digital Media
Animation I / II
3D Modeling and Animation
Graphic Design and Illustration I / II
Digital Audio Technology I / II
Audio Video Production I / II
Any computer related classes.

Generally any class that has exposure to digital graphics, programming, and computer technology would be helpful.

Dual Credit Information

This is a college level class taken in high school.

This two year program facilitates Dallas College courses that’s part of their Game Development program. In this class, students would take college level courses and earn college credit while in high school. The first year will facilitate four Dallas College courses and the second year will facilitate two.

Students will earn a "Game Development" certificate from Dallas College if students pass BOTH years and have the full 18 credit hours. This certificate and the credits earned can be transferable to an Associates of Applied Science (AAS) degree.

Course dates will go off of Dallas College’s Academic Calendar. However, students will meet in class according to the GISD School Year Calendar, regardless if Dallas College is open.

Note: The “Game Development” certificate does not fulfill the Industry Based Certification (IBC) requirement for GISD’s CCMR. It does however satisfy the 9 credit hours requirement for dual credit.

See more detail about the certification and AAS degree at the Dallas College website.

Additional dual credit information is available on the Garland ISD and Dallas College websites.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT GRADES

Dual credit grades will not be reported on Garland ISD progress reports and will NOT be in Skyward during the semester for parents to monitor progress. Dual credit students will monitor grade progress for dual credit courses during the semester through the Dallas College eCampus system. At the end of each semester the grades earned in dual credit courses will be entered in the GISD gradebook system.

Course Information

View each year's class and it's facilitated Dallas College courses.

Game Development 1

Year 1 Class - 11th and 12th Grade

Class Code: "VIDEO GAME PROGRAMMING" part A/B and "ADVANCED VIDEO GAME PROGRAMMING" part A/B

Description

Provides an in-depth exploration of the industry's evolving landscape, covering current trends and the roles within development teams. It examines the structured pipelines that guide projects from concept to completion, breaking down each stage of development, from pre-production and prototyping to release and post-launch support. Students will gain hands-on experience with industry-standard software used for game design, programming, asset creation, and project management, offering a comprehensive understanding of modern game development practices.

Dallas College Courses

FALL

GAME-1303 - Intro to Game Development and Design (3 Credits)
GAME-1306 - Design and Creation of Games (3 Credits)

SPRING

GAME 1304 – Level Design (3 Credits)
GAME 1336 – Introduction to 3D Game Modeling (3 Credits)

Game Development 2

Year 2 Class - 11th and 12th Grade

Class Code: "PRACTICUM ENTREPRENERURSHIP" and "PRACTICUM IN ENTREPRENERURSHIP"

Requirements: Must pass GAME-1303 and GAME-1304.

Description

In this second-year course, students will apply their accumulated knowledge to develop a fully realized game project from start to finish. Working in teams, they will navigate the complete game development pipeline—conceptualization, prototyping, production, testing, and launch—while adhering to industry best practices. Emphasizing collaboration, project management, and problem-solving, this course challenges students to integrate advanced mechanics, polished visuals, and professional workflows using industry-standard development tools. By the end of the course, students will have a portfolio-ready game demonstrating their technical expertise, creative vision, and readiness for the gaming industry.

There will be a semester-long project in the Spring semester with the goal of producing a professional quality game and will prepare to publish to game platforms such as Steam and itch.io.

Dallas College Courses

FALL

GAME 2304 – Level Design II (3 Credits)

SPRING

GAME 2332 – Project Development I (3 Credits)

Certifications

There are two types of certificates that can be earned in this program.

College Certificate

Students in this program can earn a “Game Development” certificate from Dallas College. They must earn at least 18 credits to obtain the certificate – students can get 18 credits by passing both first and second year classes. This certificate does not count towards the IBC requirement for CCMR.

Credits earned from this certificate can be transferred over to an Associates Degree.

IBC Certifications

Students must make an attempt to at least one of these certifications. Students must pass in order to meet CCMR requirements for obtaining an Industry Based Certification (IBC) unless they’ve obtained an IBC in other classes. Regardless if they meet CCMR prior to this class, they still must make an attempt.

Offered IBCs:

IBCs in bold are the main IBCs targeted and have a set exam date. Others will need to be scheduled.

Autodesk Certified User Maya
Adobe Certified Professional in Content Creation and Marketing Using Adobe Express
Adobe Certified Professional in Visual Design Using Adobe Photoshop
C++ Certified Entry-Level Programmer
C++ Certified Associate Programmer Certification
C++ Professional Programmer

Limited Offered IBCs:

Unity Certified User: Programmer
- Note: This class does NOT use Unity. Applicable to students that have taken a game design class prior.
Unity Certified User: Artist
- Note: This class does NOT use Unity. Applicable to students that have taken a game design class prior.

Each student will specialize in different areas of Game Development. This class will either indirectly teach or will loosely teach students to use the associated software. However, students will be given resources needed to use the software and apply them in real world scenarios in group projects with other students. Students must be able to quickly adapt to a rapidly changing environment in order to be viable in the industry.

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