MAGAZINE • SPRING 2024
Game Changer: Designers are 'Making Magic' with LTU's Unreal Incubator
Lawrence Technological University has unveiled a new, eight-month incubator program focused on video game design.
Professors and students alike are calling it a game-changer.
Maggie Hartman (L to R) and Anthony Schooley are creating an original video game as the first participants of LTU’s Unreal Incubator.
The LTU Unreal Incubator launched in August 2023 through a partnership with Epic Games Inc., the Maryland-based developer of Unreal Engine game design software. In 2019, LTU received the Epic MegaGrant, originally intended to fund introductory and supplemental instruction for students in the Game Design program.
“These participants are making magic. They are creating something from nothing and sharing it with the world - illustrating their creativity, their willingness to learn and their grit to make something bigger than themselves.”
– STEPHEN MALLORY, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, LTU COAD, DEPARTMENT OF DESIGN
But Lawrence Tech Assistant Professor Stephen Mallory and assistant professor Ahu Yolaç knew this software had the potential to create far deeper learning experiences. Incorporating Epic into LTU’s Game Design program would “open doors well beyond games,” said Mallory, who oversees the Unreal Incubator.
“It could also be a real-time visualization tool for architects and interior designers,” he added. “They could design buildings and let clients view their work in VR headsets, moving beyond the still image to let people virtually walk through these spaces.”
The Unreal Incubator gives students the ability to learn how to create an original game, get it published and ultimately even run their own studio.
Mallory would know. He came to LTU in 2020 with more than a decade of experience in the gaming industry. The first two designers he invited to participate in LTU’s Unreal Incubator are making significant progress.
Maggie Hartman is a 2023 graduate who earned a bachelor’s degree in game design and Anthony Schooley is an LTU game design senior. Together, they are about to complete their first original game, Alembic.
Alembic, the first game created at LTU’s Unreal Incubator, is due out in May.
“Alembic is a single-player, third-person relaxing dungeon crawler,” Mallory explained. “You play as an alchemist, Sage, who must explore a magical forest, searching for items to craft into potions for the local townspeople.”
The name Alembic refers to a type of still once used by alchemists who attempted to turn lead into gold. As players continue, they develop skills that allow them to access new and more complex levels of the game.
“You have to go into the woods, fight monsters and collect ingredients so you can make all the potions that your customers have ordered,” said Hartman.
Mallory added that there is a relaxing element to Alembic that he considers new to the digital game industry.
“This program has given me more hands-on experience. Whether Maggie and I want to start our own studio, or I want to get hired by another studio, or whether I want to work doing renderings for a car company - this is a really good program to make that transition.”
– ANTHONY HARTMAN, GAME DESIGN SENIOR
“Alembic is not really about direct competition or explicit violence,” he said. “Everything is about experiencing the fantastical, magical world they have created.”
Hartman and Schooley are on track to complete the game by May 2024. Alembic will then be available for download online at the Epic Store .
Completing this project represents more of a beginning than an ending for these designers.
“We have a lot of freedom with this,” said Schooley, who hails from Allen Park. “This program has given me more hands-on experience. Whether Maggie and I want to start our own studio, or I want to get hired by another studio, or whether I want to work doing renderings for a car company - this is a really good program to make that transition.”
Hartman agreed: “If this turns into a jumping-off point for us to start our own studio, I'm for it. I think we make a pretty good team.”
Hartman and Schooley plan to keep working on projects together. They are each pursuing an Unreal Authorized Instructor certification at LTU. With additional experience, the designers may choose to establish their own business or return to LTU to teach as adjunct instructors in game design.
LTU designers are mastering Unreal Engine software as part of the Unreal Incubator.
Wherever the experience leads, Mallory said, Hartman and Schooley are sure to have an edge over their competition.
“The Unreal Incubator is unique with few peers,” he said. “While many universities with strong game programs have coursework that approximates studio work, the Unreal Incubator allows students who have completed their game design coursework - or recently graduated - to apply everything they have learned in their degree. It really epitomizes the LTU motto of ‘Theory and Practice.’”
And it does even more.
Mallory said: “These participants are making magic. They are creating something from nothing and sharing it with the world - illustrating their creativity, their willingness to learn and their grit to make something bigger than themselves.”
by Stephanie Casola