Our seminar – "Projektmanagement in der Computer- und Videospielindustrie"
The annual seminar "Project Management in the Computer and Video Games Industry" in the GamesLab enables students to gain practical media experience in teamwork and game development as a basis for the professional world.
Here, students primarily from the Media Studies, Computer Science and Popular Music and Media degrees come together and work on the project in an interdisciplinary manner. However, the course is also open to all other degree programmes.
Winter semester concept
The seminar begins in the first week of the winter semester with a kick-off in which the course of the seminar is explained. Students should definitely attend this, as new features and improvements are made to the seminar every semester. Shortly afterwards, you will choose a department from 2D Arts, 3D Arts, Audio, Coding and Game Design in PANDA and meet with your small groups in weekly workshops.
After all workshops have been completed, preparations for a final game jam will begin: All participants must submit a game proposal. The best game proposals are then selected and put to the vote. Depending on the game, the students are assigned to a team made up of members from all departments. This is followed by the game jam, which usually takes place over a weekend and during which all teams meet at the GamesLab and work together on their games. In the last seminar of the semester, each team presents the game it has developed to all the other participants.
Departments and Workshops
The workshops are led by the "Orga", a group of students who have a lot of experience in the departments and try to create a pleasant atmosphere for learning and exchange. In line with the workshop, weekly homework assignments are set, which must be completed for the AQT. There are also individual workshops that span the departments in order to clarify the workflow between the departments.
Summer semester concept
The summer semester also starts with a Kick-Off event. It is assumed that participants can demonstrate knowledge from the first semester in order to successfully participate in one of several major projects in the summer semester. The groups are now larger and meet weekly to discuss development progress, workflow and current problems.
The development is simultaneously supervised by the Orga-Team. At the end of the semester, there is a game with more gameplay and features than in the first semester. The final result is also presented to the other course participants at the last seminar date. Particularly good video games are published.
FAQ
In Paderborn University’s online system PAUL (https://paul.uni-paderborn.de/) , the seminar in the field of media studies can be selected under the names “Project Management in the Computer and Video Game Industry 1” in the winter semester and “Project Management in the Computer and Video Game Industry 2” in the summer semester. If you cannot find the seminar, please contact your responsible examination office.
The 2D Arts, 3D Arts, Audio, Coding and Game Design workshops usually take place Monday to Friday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. or 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. For organisational reasons, the final dates will only be announced on the first seminar date. We will still try to find a date where everyone has time so that you can visit your desired department.
Yes, very much! The course is open to all skill levels. We have participants who are starting from scratch, as well as those who participate repeatedly or people who already have more experience through computer games (development) as a hobby. In the course you will learn all the basics to be able to participate successfully and also how you can integrate your personal strengths into a mixed team.
Basically not, as it is a two-semester seminar that requires the knowledge and skills from the first semester. However, in individual cases we make exceptions. To see if that’s possible, please contact gameslab@uni-paderborn.de
Opening times will be announced on the GamesLab Discord. In addition, you will find many other important news regarding the seminar there. The link to the Discord is https://discordapp.com/invite/b3gJjKd