Vicious Engine made available to Indiana University students

by Jason Dobson { Mar 27th 2008 at 11:00PM }

Developers Vicious Cycle Software have offered up the studio's cross-platform Vicious Engine middleware to students attending the Indiana University School of Education, giving those aspiring to a life of game development some helpful hands-on time with real-world tools.

But don't go expecting the university to churn out the next Puzzle Quest or Dead Head Fred, as according to the school, students will be using the engine to make so-called 'serious games." Students' games will be "designed to teach various subjects of their choosing," and will be part of a larger university study on "how people learn through games." Even so, we imagine the experience will likely prove invaluable for those students wanting to eventually grease the wheels of game development with their sweat and blood.

Tags: dead-head-fred, deadheadfred, education, indiana-university, indianauniversity, puzzle-quest, puzzlequest, serious-games, seriousgames, vicious-cycle, vicious-cycle-software, viciouscycle, viciousengine

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Wien @ Mar 27th 2008 11:09PM

Hmm, interesting. I think Austin Community College's (Texas) new game design dept also licensed the Vicious Engine for its classes, too. Or at least, they are supposed to.

Kujel @ Mar 27th 2008 11:51PM

This sounds like a good idea, now more students can prepare for a career in game design.

mega_dranix @ Mar 27th 2008 11:56PM

I wish things like these were offered when I was still in College a few years ago. Would have put my programming skills into good use.

MagiKarp @ Mar 28th 2008 12:15AM

Sigh, IU keeps getting all the good stuff. They took the Bucket from us, and now they get real game engines to use. Grudingly, I say good work guys.

(Go Boilers!)

SoxFan13 @ Mar 28th 2008 6:40AM

Don't forget, they're also going to get the NCAA sanctions!

Are these games going to be as "serious" as the experiments at the Kinsey Institute? I hope so- the world is missing a serious masturbation simulator.

coop510 @ Mar 28th 2008 4:07AM

I'm kinda pissed about this, I'm in the Simulation and Game Development program at Wake Tech in NC, right down the street from vicious cycle, we went on a tour in their studios, and told us they'd be releasing their engine for educational use... we kinda expected to get our hands on this, being in the same area. I don't see why they wouldn't want to train future employees they wouldn't have to relocate.... argh... show some local love VC!