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As appeared in Lake Houston Sentinel
July 19, 2007
Digital Camp: No 'Kum by Yah' here
By Bob Bartel
As this summer's almost daily rains have inundated local residents, three Baytown students have found what may be the perfect summer camp: the iD Tech Camps at the University of Houston Central Campus.
These camps teach kids the basics of computer programming and game design, and let them create their own computer games.
Camp director Trae Stanley explained how the camp works. "This is a niche camp. We teach children how to build games, using proprietary software from many of the game manufacturers themselves. We have different levels of instruction so that campers can start at a beginning level, and work their way up to more difficult programming tasks. At the end of the week, the students get to take their games home on a CD where they can continue to work on them if they want with help from the manufacturers," he said.
The camp day is divided into instructional time and free time. During the free time, youngsters can play any of a variety of popular games on the market, some of which call for dividing into teams. Teens and pre-teens are separated for these activities. Supervised outdoor activity is also encouraged during free time.
Daniel Krizak, 13, and his brother William, 10, were both enjoying the camp. The brothers signed up for two weeks, so they were able to try more activities. Daniel is making himself a "Star Wars space game." His is a single player, two-dimensional game.
He said, "It's really simpler than you might expect to create all the features. I made a simple game, and it took two to three days to create it."
Jessica Parker, 14, also from Baytown, was equally exited about the game that she created. "I've always wanted to make a video game with my own characters
since I was little," she said. "I'm having fun doing everything. It's great making my own backgrounds, drawing my own things, animating everything and making it all work. The program they have makes it really easy, because it does everything for you."
Stanley said that students can choose from a variety of basic shells for games. They have libraries of characters and objects from which to choose and integrate into their own games. There is an instructor for every six or seven children, so if they run into a problem, the counselors can help them. Counselors are given a week of training before camp, and have a large support network, including help lines and online forums.
"Even though each game is different, the problems are often similar in nature, making them easy to diagnose and fix," he said.
One of the instructors, Joey Lapetina said, "This is the kind of camp that I would have wanted to do when I was their age. The kids are learning a lot about games and programming concepts in general, and we're all having a lot of fun." Lapetina is in web development and was recruited for the position by his college professor.
Each of the children said that they hoped to come back next year, and learn to work on 3D games. They were going to invite their friends, as well.
iD Tech Camps started in California nine years ago. They are now operating in 50
college campuses around the United States. Each student has his/her own computer to work on, and they use leading edge products from major software and hardware manufacturers in the classroom. Classes are limited to 36 or 37 campers per weekly session. The cost of a week at camp is $729 for commuters or $1,129 for students who stay in the dorms. For information call 1-888-709-TECH (8324), or visit web site: www.internalDrive.com.
bbartel@hcnonline.com
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