Baylor University's Gaming Capstone Students to Demonstrate New Video Games to Public

May 1, 2015

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Media contact: Eric M. Eckert, (254) 710-1964

Baylor students training, equipping for careers in $5.5 billion video gaming industry

WACO, Texas (May 1, 2015) – Are you ready to travel through dungeons and ghost towns to battle monsters and vengeful spirits? Grab your game controllers and let's go!

Senior students from the computer science department in Baylor's School of Engineering and Computer Science will demonstrate video games they've developed during an open house from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday, May 4, in the Rogers Engineering & Computer Science Building, Room 109, on the Baylor campus.

Two student teams each developed a video game. The first game, "Project Disco Helix," is a fast-action, role-playing game in which players collect cards and create strategies as they travel through dungeons and encounter monsters. The second game, "Misty Falls," is an action game set in the 1950s that allows players to take control of a vengeful spirit who is seeking revenge on his murderers in order to turn Misty Falls into a ghost town. Both games were developed as part of the university's gaming capstone course.

"With consumers spending nearly $5.5 billion on video games each year, the video game industry is a career path that appeals to more and more of our computer science students," said Matthew Fendt, Ph.D., Baylor lecturer in computer science. "According to a recent report by the Entertainment Software Association, the average age of a game player is 35, and more than 40 percent of those players are women. The industry has evolved from games for adolescents and children to games that appeal to anyone at any stage of life."

Baylor's computer science department offers a video game development specialization within the computer science degree program. This specialization is designed to provide an understanding of the development and application of interactive digital media technologies. The specialization is offered in cooperation with Baylor's department of communication's Film & Digital Media program, combining media course offerings with technical content in order to produce graduates with skills that go beyond design and implementation. Graduates that choose the game development specialization are awarded a fully-accredited computer science degree with all the associated career and graduate education opportunities

Both games will be available for demonstration to the public with a light lunch provided to those who attend the event.

For more information, contact Kate Amaya, director of communications and external relations for Baylor's School of Engineering and Computer Science, at 254-710-6826, or Kate_Amaya@baylor.edu. ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution, characterized as having "high research activity" by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The University provides a vibrant campus community for approximately 16,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. Baylor sponsors 19 varsity athletic teams and is a founding member of the Big 12 Conference.

ABOUT THE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER SCIENCE
With more than 10 percent of Baylor University's freshman class pursuing major courses of study in the School of Engineering and Computer Science (ECS), the focus remains on preparing graduates for professional practice and responsible leadership with a Christian world view. ECS majors include bioinformatics, computer science, electrical and computer engineering, general engineering, and mechanical engineering. Among ECS graduate programs are Master of Science degrees in all disciplines, a Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering, a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, and several dual degree programs. The Teal Residential College, in which engineering and computer science students and faculty live, fosters the pursuit of wisdom, academic excellence, and meaningful relationships for the development of diverse, innovative leaders.