Welcome to Gamer’s Paradise
Inside Southern Methodist University’s Guildhall, one of the nation’s top schools for training video-game producers and known for its production, testings, and cross-campus collaborations.
By Mary “Mimi” Barnes
Going to graduate school to learn video game development may raise some eyebrows. That is exactly what happens at Southern Methodist University(SMU) Guildhall. Not many SMU undergraduates know about it, but Guildhall is a specially designed graduate video game school at SMU. Founded in July 2003, the school trains the next generation of leaders in the video game industry. The graduate school represents a wide range of undergraduate degrees with varied majors. It has a diverse student body. As of 2020, students come from 48 states and 13 different countries. To date, Guildhall produced 25 games for the platform Steam available at no charge to the player. Jianwen Gao, who goes by JG, is a second year student at Guildhall. “I have done 3 team projects, one with 5 members, one with around 50, and one with 21.” JG says that anyone who wants to be a producer should study at Guildhall. “It is special because Guildhall creates a safe place to learn and make mistakes. It’s impossible for me, an entry-level producer, to run a team with 20 members in the game industry. But we did it at Guildhall, and we successfully launched two games on Steam.” Students learn to work together in a team with some guidance from professors. Professors have at least five years of experience in the video game industry. Kneedle Knight, the most recent 3D game published on the platform Stream by JG and his team received “very positive” reviews. In the game, the player is a knight who turned into a mouse. Guildhall gives students a safe environment for them to experiment and exchange ideas with other team members and professors. Also, Guildhall provides a psychologically safe environment, which is not always the industry standard.
Guildhall offers everything needed to produce a successful video game. This includes a GameLab for students to test their games, along with study spaces, and the VizLab. The VizLab enables students to have interactions with researchers and collaborators, while also being a place that can be converted for presentations and events. According to the Guildhall website, the facilities include “33 research game labs; student game studios; a usability lab and simulated living room; an extensive library of games and developer tools; and much more!” There is even a cafe for students and professors to enjoy. The website adds that the Dallas area is a great place to work and study, as well as being the 4th largest metropolitan area in the United States.
Guildhall even offers a summer program targeted towards students in grades 6–12 called Guildhall Academy. In this two-week program, students who are passionate about gaming and technology learn how to make their own 2D video game and use end game engine technology. They get to experience what video game developers do while being taught by veterans of the video game industry. Prior knowledge to gaming or technology is not required to attend Guildhall Academy.
“It’s really fun for students who might want to be in video game development,” says Rene Archambault, the Deputy Director of Admissions and Marketing at SMU Guildhall.
Fun Facts About Guildhall
- Founded in 2003 with 32 students enrolled, after an interest from studios and companies who wanted to help the next generation of video game developers.
- Supported by many companies including Sony and Blizzard.
- Uses uses engines such as Unity and Skyrim(Creation Engine).
- The two game-design programs are the Master of Interactive Technology (MIT) in Digital Game Development and the Professional Certificate in Digital Game Development(Bachelor’s degree not required). The students spend 22 months making games.
- The first school in the world to offer the Master of Interactive Technology degree.
- The only school to offer all four pillars of game development at Guildhall are art creation, level design, production, and programming.
- Collaborates with the SMU Meadows School of the Arts to create music for the video games, including Kneedle Knight.
- Has over 1,000 graduates to date.
Since the start of SMU Guildhall in 2003, students of the graduate school have produced many video games. Some of the games include FrostRunner and KravenManor. In FrostRunner the player navigates through an abandoned frozen environment with arctic terrain in order to tether between crystals before the timer runs out. The timer makes sure that the player is able to get through all 36 levels as quickly as possible. KravenManor takes place inside a creepy manor where the player explores the past life of William Kraven and solves mysteries. The player can also alter the layout of the manor with each room revealing something new about the past.
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Gary Brubaker, the Director of SMU Guildhall shared that there used to be a campus in Plano, but that everything regarding the video game school moved to the main SMU campus in Dallas in 2020. “They were all Master’s Degrees and it was important to be on the main campus.” SMU donor Gerald J. Ford helped create Ford Hall where Guildhall exists today.
The SMU Meadows School of the Arts helps Guildhall create music for its video games and has done so for more than a decade. Having music for a video game makes the game itself interesting and gives it meaning. “Some of the best things you’ll see in life are achieved through collaboration,” Meadows composer Eduardo Rodriguez-Piña says. Ayden Machajewski collaborated with Meadows to produce music for two video games: Conjury Revell and Light of Alariya. The games were Capstone projects and can now be played on Steam. A full orchestra from Meadows records the music for the games.
In addition to needing music for the video games, students write and develop voiceovers for the games. They record their voiceovers in the Game Lab and synchronize their voice to the game. The team is run and managed by students. Senior Annelise Wall recorded the narrator voice for Kneedle Knight. Bret Fatherly is the recording engineer and composer, Matt Grabowski, the Lead Game Designer, Arun Kumar Kadaganchi, and JG is credited as the Co-Producer. Other games with a voiceover include Asurya’s Embers with Kally Duncan as the narrator. Duncan synchronizes with the game by making the punching sounds and using her her fists to imitate the scene while recording.
One of the producers of Asurya’s Embers happens to be Reed Devany. Devany explains in the YouTube short while collaborating with others that Guildhall “Is unlike any other graduate program in the nation, where you have shift games, you’ve gone through the studio environment, you know milestone goals, production language development, which is what really sets you apart.” Douglas Rysdyk is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Interactive Entertainment in Guildhall’s Production track. He said it gave him an idea of just how young the industry was, and he felt he could make an impact.
Steve Stringer heads the Game Lab at Guildhall where students can test their games and have others observe and make notes from another room. Stringer worked in the industry for 25 years before coming to Guildhall. He states that the creators make sure that the games are fun and competitive.
Some of Stringer’s released games include, according to his bio on the Guildhall website:
- Mission: Impossible — Operation Surma (PS2 & XBox, GCN Atari) — Sr. Producer, level design, & in-game cinematics
- Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 (PC & PS2, Electronic Arts) — (Initial) Producer & Designer
- Big Air Freestyle (GameCube, Paradigm & Atari) — Senior Producer & conversion design
- MXRider (PS2, Paradigm & Atari) — Senior Producer
- Star Trek: Elite Force (PC, Raven Software & Activision) — Producer
- Soldier of Fortune (PC, Raven Software & Activision) — Producer
The schedule of a Guildhall student begins at 9:30 a.m. with an hour and a half lunch break. Classes resume at 2 p.m. and continue until 5 p.m. daily. Students then work 15 hours per week outside of class developing games and doing homework. Being a student at Guildhall is hard work. However, Guildhall mimics the real world environment of the gaming industry.
